Only one mistake
by Akasuna no Akane
Summary: Akane is a Konoha jounin sent to eliminate the Kazekage... but things don't go the way they were planned... she couldn't see it coming... Main paring GaaraXOC. Rated T for now.
1. Chapter 1

_**I can't believe I'm doing this... I must be suicidal or something...**_were the only thoughts in Akane's mind while she was running across the tree branches on her way to the desert.

_**How did I get myself into this?**_

* * *

"_My mission is what?" - I never thought that something as simple as couple of words could leave me speechless._

_Then Tsunade began her explanation:_

"_As you already know, this war with Sunagakure has been going on for far too long... At this point, there are only two solutions, we could either ask for truce, which would save us any further sacrifices but could also be a sign of our village's weakening, or..."_

_**

* * *

**_

_**Why did I accept to do it anyway? **_Her answer to the new question forming inside her thousand miles per hour running mind, was cut short when she successfully missed the next branch and fell painfully on the hostile ground.

_**Great. Maybe I should kill myself now. I probably won't get very far with this kind of luck anyway.**_

While trying with all her might to push away her depressive thoughts, she realized that she's been running for (who knows how many) hours, and that it's actually (and visibly) getting dark.

_**Maybe crushing on the ground was good luck after all. The way I was going, I could've ran into an enemy without even realizing it. I might as well spend the night here.**_

She knew all too well that all she could do is rest for a while, since falling asleep wasn't an option. _**Guess I'll just sit here till morning. That's gonna be fun... just like watching the paint dry.**_

_**

* * *

**_

_**My name is Akane Uchiha, I am a jounin from the Hidden Leaf village, which is currently in war with the Hidden Sand village. I am on a mission to assassinate the Kazekage. Yes, the one and only sand's leader, whom I've never met, and there for have no idea what I'm going up against. The only thing I do know, is that he can control the sand itself, which, if you consider that I'm going into the desert, puts me in a very difficult situation and an extremely death obsessed mood.**_

_**

* * *

**_

_**I feel so pathetic... I'm supposed to be a first class assassin, and all I can think about is what I'll never get to see or do if I don't come back.**_

_**And who's gonna feed my cat? Wait a minute... That's right, I don't have a cat. I don't have any friends either, cause I don't have time for any. All I have are my reptile summoning creatures, since the only thing I ever bothered to do was to become a sage so I could be more powerful. And the funny part is, I'm really not that strong.**_

_**Still, I have a lot of enemies. It's incredibly easy to find them when all you do is walk around killing people for someone else's whim.**_

_**So why am I sitting here feeling sorry for my life when I clearly don't have one? **_

_**Oh, look... the sun's rising. Who knew a self argument could take so much time.**_

* * *

And so, with her new-found sympathy towards death and a surprisingly enemy-free trip, Akane approached the desert. She summoned her reptile "friends" to search the area around her while she was moving, so that she wouldn't have to worry about being ambushed or seen.

_**If I keep up this pace, I'll be in Suna by tonight. That should give me an advantage, or not.**_

_**That's the spirit Akane, way to go! To the other side that is... **_

_**I can't believe I'm arguing with myself again. No wonder I don't have any friends! And why should I need any? You're never alone with a split personality, right? **_

_**Pull yourself together, you can do this.**_

_**Besides, I can always fall back if I see it's hopeless.** _

_**Right, there's nothing to worry about.**_

_**And what makes you think you'll have that chance? To fall back that is.**_

_**That's not helping.**_

_**And you're talking (or thinking?) to yourself again. I don't think it's an actual insanity as long as you don't do it out loud. What do you think? **_

_**Hmmm... I don't have time for this! I'm picking up the pace and I'll be in Suna by tonight, and if I die... **_

_**Well, lets not get carried away now. My life sucks, but that doesn't make me want to end it.**_

_**It all comes down to tonight. If I'm lucky, like I've been so far, everything will work out just fine, and I'll be out of the desert by morning.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**I guess I got here earlier than I thought. The sun isn't down yet. It's getting colder though, so it will probably get dark soon.**  
_

Akane had no choice but to wait till dark. Getting inside a hidden village is going to be hard enough without the betraying sunlight. So she hid near the village's walls, and patiently awaited for the right time.

As the time passed by, she noticed the pattern between the guards shifts. **_According to my calculations, I'll have about 30 seconds after one shift leaves, till the arrival of the next one. That should be enough, not take-your-time enough, but I should make it._**

As soon as the sun set, and the young moon started to rise, she made her move. Surprisingly, her theory was doable in practice, and she made it in the village. It was perfect. Well, if you don't count that guy she had to put to sleep with her Sharingan.

_**Now all that's left to do is find my target**. _And then she spotted the biggest object in the village - Kazekage's tower. **_Bingo._**

She started to move between the shadows of the nearby houses, careful to mask her chakra (this is the kage after all). **_I need to be careful. Those idiotic, lame excuses for ninja were easy to pass by, now I'm getting to the tricky part. _**

Akane was dangerously near the tower now. **_I have to locate him first. Getting inside without knowing if he's even there would be a waste of time. _**

She began to focus. **_He should be the person with the greatest amount of chakra around. It won't be very hard to find him. Unless, he's hiding it. Please tell me he's not hiding it!_**

Unfortunately, she painfully (in a form of a headache) discovered that she was right. She couldn't sense any bigger chakras around. **_This is just great! Why in the world is he masking his chakra?_ _He is in his own village for heaven's sake! He's either paranoid or incredibly aware of the villagers' pathetic guarding abilities. _**

**_And why am I just standing here wondering what he thinks? I should be planning my next move. _**

**_Maybe I should go back. It's not brave or honorable, but it will most likely save my neck. _**

**_What am I thinking? I can't go back now! _**

_**I need to focus. The obvious thing to do now is to search the tower. It's gonna be a pain, but at this point, there is no other way for me to find him. Assuming he's there. But how am I supposed to do it? I am an assassin, not a spy! Not to mention that I've never sneaked in something like a kage tower before! **  
_

* * *

Couple of hours later...

**_Aaaahhh! If I keep this up I won't get to do anything! That's it! I don't care anymore! I'm going in!_**

And with that thought, she ran to the building wall. Then she focused some of her chakra into her feet, and started to climb. **_It's not like I can get in through the door. Still, I'm far from being safe here. I need to find a good place to get in._**

In that moment, like a gift from Heaven, she bumped in a carelessly forgotten open window. After making sure no one was there, she pulled herself inside.

Although the light was off, she could clearly see the insides of the room. It was pretty small, and full of papers, files and boring diplomatic stuff alike.

She approached the door and placed her ear on it. Nothing was heard in the hallway so she decided to get out. If she was going to be caught, it might as well be there, instead of being captured while hiding in that room – that would be humiliating.

She slowly opened the door and got out. Now she had yet another difficult choice to make: **_left or right? _**

As usual, using logic to get to an answer was interrupted by the unwanted sound of footsteps from her right.

_**Left.** -_That must have been the quickest decision she has ever made. She moved fast, not yet running, more like really fast walking. To her disappointment, the "intruders" from behind her gained allies in front of her. **_More of them? Now what? I'm so busted at this rate! _**

Fortunately, a door appeared on the wall to her left. **_No time to check for people inside. Who cares? If I don't go in I'll be caught anyway! _**She opened the door and ran into the room. It was empty. **_Yes! I'm saved!_**

Akane carefully leaned on the door. The two groups were bound to meet soon, and she might get to hear something useful from them.

"Anything unusual?"_ - _A deep voice asked. "No, nothing."_ - _was the answer. "Did you check the Kazekage-sama's house?"_ - _The other asked again. "We were just there, Everything is in order."_ - _Someone with a pretty serious voice replied. "Alright then, lets get moving." With that, both groups were on their way. Soon, they were out of Akane's hearing range.

**_If I'm right, the guy that said that they were at the kage's house was from the group closer to me. Which means, that I should go in the direction I was going before I went in here. _**

She exited the room, and headed towards where (hopefully) was her target. Although she has been going for only a several minutes, to her it seemed like hours. She was obviously inside the kage's privet part of the mansion. She realized that one after entering a couple of doors and finding that the rooms were different than the ones before. **_I was lucky not to run into anyone, guess everyone living here is asleep. So many doors and hallways... It's like searching for a needle in a... _**

She was in the dead end. Well, not completely dead – there was a door. It looked a bit bigger than the other doors that she saw along the way. But nothing special though.

Just...

**_Now what? I should probably go in. What's the worst that could happen? The way I'm going, it'll be morning again before I get any clue of Kazekage's whereabouts. _**

Not bothering to check for presence, she opened the door and went in. She quickly closed it and turned around – just in time to almost get a heart attack. **_I don't freaking believe this! And just when I was hoping not to find him! _**In front of her, in a large bed lied the Kazekage, apparently asleep.

* * *

Couple of minutes later...

**_What do I do now? Did I just think that? I can't believe myself._**

**_Still, should I really be doing this? If a ninja should die before his time, it should be in battle, against a stronger opponent. But this... He's a village leader, I'm a simple jounin. If we were to meet in a fight, I would be the one to die._**

She shook her head. What is she thinking? She killed many people before... It were all missions, just like this one.

Slowly, and as quiet as possible, she approached the bed. **_This is it... as soon as I'm done, I'll get out through the window and I'll be miles away by the time they figure out what happened. _**

She draw her sword from behind her back and in one swift movement she stabbed it in the middle of his chest. She had hoped that she hit the heart. If nothing else, she owned him a quick and as painless as possible death.

And then it happened. She didn't see it coming.


	3. Chapter 3

The moment she took the sword out of the "body", the peaces of it began to fall off. **_An empty shell... Substitution! _**She turned around just in time to see a wave of sand that threw her through the wall. She was floating for a few seconds before hitting a roof of a nearby house.

_**I guess it's safe to presume that the simple way failed. Either that or I was just sent on my first flying lesson by a figure of my imagination. **_Akane had just about enough time to check if she was still in one peace before the sand came at her again. She dodged the blow just in time and jumped back to gain some distance between her and now revealed red-headed Kazekage with a gourd on his back.

**_That was close... Why is it suddenly getting darker? It was damn hard to see even with the moon light._ **She thought and looked above her. **_Oh, sh... _**Sand was everywhere, and before she could make a move, a gigantic wall covered her.

* * *

_For someone who managed to get inside the village and the mansion, she didn't exactly put up a fight. This was too easy. So much for having some fun._ A victorious smirk appeared on his face. Sure, it was no sweat, but still, it's been a while since he got to kill someone personally.

Then his expression changed again, when the sand that supposedly covered the enemy's body started to move. His yet-to-be-killed opponent jumped out surrounded by shield of lightning.

**_Screw this! I didn't come all this way to die! I'm officially done taking the hits! It's my turn! _**Than she made a number of hand signs and the sky got dark again – the storm clouds were gathering above the village. The storm was getting louder and the lightnings were flashing. **_Now to end it. _**Akane concentrated on her target and the lightning was shoot down from the sky towards the read-head.

**_I did it! What? _**

**_The damn substitution again! Can't he use anything else? That's so unfair! _**

* * *

Before she had time to search for his new location, Akane heard an unmistakable sound of kunai flying towards her back. She quickly turned around and blocked them with her sword. _**The reinforcements. It's just my luck.** _She shot a few lightnings at the approaching ninja and started to run towards the village's walls.

**_I'll have to call the quits on this one. _**She forced some chakra in her feet and was soon out of their weapon's range. **_They're falling behind. Good thing I'm unmatchable at running aw – I mean, tactical retreat. _**

* * *

She was about 50 meters away from the wall, when the kunai started to fly in her direction again – more ninja were charging at her and putting themselves between Akane and the way out in the process.

**_There's no way I'm letting you stop me! _**She moved out of the weapon's way, concentrated chakra into her fist and slammed it into the ground. The earth under other ninjas' feet started to shake. They fell unable to keep their feet under them.

**_That should do it. There's now way they'll follow me now. _**She quickly climbed the wall and run over it. Than she jumped on the other side. **_I'm out! Those idiots will never catch me._**

* * *

It incredible how many times a single person can be wrong in just a few minutes. The sand under her feet raised and surrounded her. **_Not again! When did he get here? _**Luckily she managed to make herself a way out with a few lightnings. _**Now I know why my brother was so eager to make me learn this stuff. If I came here with nothing but fire jutsus, I'll be dead more than once by now.**_

Akane tuned around to face her opponent. "I guess I underestimated you, considering that you're still alive" His voice was quiet but threatening. "You've done pretty well, but this is the end of the line."

She just glared at him in response. **_If he thinks that I'll lose to him that easily, he's in for a surprise. There's no room for joking around anymore, time to get serious. _**Her eyes turned from onyx to crimson when she activated her Sharingan.

* * *

They both began making hand signs and preparing to make a move. The sand started to shift and move, it was growing with each second. When it became so large that it was impossible for any human to dodge it, his master sent it to attack in a form of Desert Avalanche. _Let's see if you can survive this._

Akane waited till the sand was only a couple of seconds away before she acted. She concentrated chakra in her palms and created three balls of lightning which started to float and spin around her, creating a large barrier. The sand kept coming, but the barrier held it's place, keeping it's user safe.

When the sand finally stopped, Akane undid her jutsu, and charged towards the kazekage. **_Now I'll show you why you shouldn't have followed me. _**When she was only a few meters away, she made her hand signs and held out her right arm. "Raikiri!"

* * *

She did it. This time was for sure, there's no way he could've made another substitution in time, she would've seen it with her Sharingan.

Akane was only partially correct, the sand that got her blown away proved it.** _No way, how could've I missed? I never miss_! **

**_Guess this makes it the first time. _**She got up and looked in his direction. He was down for the moment**. _So I didn't miss! Great! Wonderful! So why is he still alive? _**

When she looked better, she found out. Although she did hit him, she missed the heart, apparently because he used his sand to make her miss it.

_Those lightnings of hers are becoming one major pain. If I want to end this, I'll have to prevent her from using her lightning based jutsus._ He stood up and smirked. _This is going to be easy._

* * *

**_Why is he smiling? What could he possibly be happy about? I wounded him, not gave him candy! _**

**_To put that aside, I have to figure out a way to get out of this mess... It's taking too long, and I already lost a considerable amount of chakra. _**

"Instead of standing there and staring at me, don't you think you should be running?" He said with a confident voice. **_What? He's standing there half dead, and I'm the one who should be running?_**

"I'll just finish you off quickly then." He was now completely straightened up. They were standing with only a few meters between them.

Then he shouted -"Sand lightning needles!", and a large number of sand needles flew out of his gourd and landed around Akane. **_This doesn't look good._** And like it usually goes at times like this, she was right. The needles started emitting lightning. She couldn't take the pain, it was worse than anything she ever felt. She fell on the ground screaming.

And than it stopped. She was on her knees, trying to catch her breath. **_What was that? How could've he used a jutsu like that? _**The last attack took her by surprise, she could barely move.

"You made a deadly mistake by coming here. That Hokage of yours obviously likes wasting lives." While he was talking the sand wrapped itself around Akane, holding her up to face him. "Tell you what, if you tell me all I want to know about the leaf village, I'll let you go."

She just stared at him. **_Let me go? Who does he think he's dealing with? No person who dares to call themselves shinobi would betray their village to save their lives. I'm not talking. _**

"What a pity."


	4. Chapter 4

**_I knew this would happen. It's interesting how I can be wrong when I'm supposed to save my life and right when it's about to end. What a pain... _**

An explosion was heard throughout the desert. The village's main entrance was under attack. 

_Now what?_ _I'll just have to come back and finish this later._ At that thought, he formed a seal. Sand surrounded the red-head and he was gone.

* * *

**_This is interesting... I thought that people weren't supposed to feel anything after they die. Or breathe... _** "I'm alive!" At the moment of dramatic realization Akane opened her eyes and straightened herself up in a sitting position. "Ouch! That hurts!" She loured her gaze toward her body just to be met with tones of bandages.

"Finally. We were beginning to think that you'll never wake up."

She turned her head to meet the owner of the well known voice. "Nice to see you too. And if you could tell me why am I here (alive) talking to you, I would _really_ appreciate it."

Before she could get her answer, her eye caught a flash of yellow and, a second later, she was being hugged to death. "AKANE! YOU'RE AWAKE!" The voice that took down mountains kept ringing in her head while she was struggling for her breath.

"Naruto." But it was useless, the hipper blond was to busy suffocating the pore sole. "Naruto!" The blond was now talking a thousand words per second, completely oblivious of his surroundings.

"HEY! DUMB-ASS!" Finally, Naruto released Akane's (almost) lifeless body and turned his attention towards the (so far) impassive raven-head.

"HEY! WHO ARE YOU CALLING DUMB?"

"Isn't it obvious? You're the only _conscious_ dumb person here." The raven-head looked at him with an amused smirk.

"YOU ARE SO DEAD!" Naruto was turning red from anger. This was the last time that jerk will ever insult him. 

Before the blond could react, a sword appeared dangerously near the smart guy's neck. "I'm not dumb, and I'm certainly not unconscious. You shouldn't underestimate people so easily, it might get you killed someday, _Sasuke_."

"Hm." He stayed still, but turned his gaze to the back, where Akane was standing, still holding her katana. "Not bad sis. Do you mind putting that thing away now? You proved your point."

"Huh... I was hoping you'll say that." She put the sword down and her left arm on his shoulder. "Could you help me to the bed now? I think my legs are about to give up on me."

He sighed and picked her up to put her on the bed. "What an idiot. You are no better than Naruto."

"What is that supposed to mean?" **_I should have cut his throat when I had the chance. _**

"Just shut up. We don't need another argument."

"Is that so? Maybe you should have thought about that sooner – like before you opened your _big _mouth!"

"Akane, we don't have time for this. Calm down."

"Don't you tell me to calm down! And as for your lack of time, I've just woken up after being almost dead, so I have all the time in the world!"

"Now that you've mentioned it, why were you almost dead?"

Akane was stopped in her tracks while re-listening his question to make sure she heard it right. **_Should I tell them? The mission is supposed to be secret. Then again, there's no way he's gonna __drop it now... I know!_**

"If my memory serves, I asked you why I was here. Until you answer my question, I'm not talking." With that statement, Akane crossed her arms on her chest defensively.

"What? The I-asked-you-first tactic? What are you, a three-year old?" While Sasuke was fighting to keep his cool before his sister's immaturity, all Naruto could do was helplessly watch the two siblings verbally slaughter each other.

Akane shot a death glare but simply said: "I'm waiting."

"Fine. Hokage sent us on a mission to attack Suna. But, when we got there, the village was already attacked by the Hidden Rock ninja. While we were approaching, I saw lightnings gathering south from the main gate, so instead of going according to our mission, we went towards the lightnings."

"Wait, _why_?" She was staring at him with a you're-such-an-idiot face.

"Will you let me finish? You'll have your turn to talk soon enough."

"_Fine_. Go on." Akane waived with her hand dismissively.

Sasuke sighed."_Anyway_, I chose that direction because I felt _your_ chakra, idiot." And before she could cut him off again, he added:"When we got there, we found you lying on the ground out cold. After that we brought you here." He finished.

"Oh. So where is here anyway?"

"Our camp near the Fire country's border. We will go back to the Leaf village as soon as you're able to travel."

"Alright. I think that covers the blank part in my memory." **_Except for one thing..._**

* * *

"Akane?"

"Yeah?"

"Your turn to talk."

"Already? Oh, look at the time! It's getting late and I really need rest. So if you guys would be so kind to leave..."

"No."

"But...Fine... I was on a mission to kill the Kazekage!" She sighed. "Now you know."

"WHAT?" Naruto finally came back to reality and decided to yell her head of. Akane rolled her eyes. **_Great... now he reacts._**

Still keeping his cool, Sasuke asked quietly: "Why did you accept it in the first place?"

"I don't know. A good pay? I also heard that Suna has some wonderful sunsets."

"This isn't time for jokes Akane. You could've killed yourself." Sasuke didn't bother to hide the worry in his voice.

"So I guess both of our missions failed, ha?" Naruto had a wide smile on his face. "It's a disaster, but at least we're still alive."

"Yeah." Sasuke smirked. "By the way, Naruto, that is the only smart thing you've said the whole day."

"HEY! THAT'S IT! I'M DONE LISTENING TO YOUR INSULTS!" Akane quickly grabbed Naruto from behind to stop him from jumping on Sasuke.

* * *

"That's enough, both of you. Akane needs to rest. We have to leave for Konoha tomorrow morning." Kakashi popped his head into the room.

"Tomorrow? I thought we had more time." Naruto had calmed himself and was standing next to Sasuke.

"Enemy ninja are moving close to the border. We need to leave camp before we're discovered." With that, Kakashi was gone.

"I guess we should call it a night too. Akane, get some sleep. Sakura will check your wounds in the morning." Sasuke walked to the door with Naruto following behind him.

**_This went pretty well. Oh, well... All's well that ends well. _**


	5. Chapter 5

"Morning Akane! How are you?"

**_I was better before you woke me up! _**"I'm fine I guess..." **_You're the medic around here... why ask me? _**" So what's up Sakura? Are we leaving any time soon?"

"First I have to check your state to see if you can make it (_**wow, that sounds optimistic**)_ and then we should be on our way. Now, lets see... Your wounds are healing nicely... Tell me if this hur-"

"Ouch! That hurts!" Akane jumped of the bed like it was on fire and ran to the opposite wall. "What did you do that for?"

Sakura began to approach her slowly. - "Stop being such a crybaby. How am I supposed to heal your arm if you don't let me near it?"

"I don't care! I'll rather leave it broken for the rest of my life!"

Sigh. "It's not broken. I healed all the fractures while you were unconscious."

"Oh. -' How about you don't tell the guys about this?"

_Uchiha pride... So typical._ "Fine, I won't tell them about you freaking out over a few bruises. Now get over here so I can finish your check-up."

* * *

Couple of minutes later, outside...

Naruto was attacking the 3rd bowl of ramen that morning, Sasuke was trying to keep his breakfast in his stomach (the Naruto scene didn't do much good for his appetite) and Kakashi was too busy reading his book to notice... anything.

"Ready or not world, here I come!"

_One minute, she's all like Sasuke, the next one she's a female Naruto._ Sakura sweat dropped.

"You were out cold, not dead Akane."

"So what? Does that mean I can't show my happiness for being alive? What kind of brother are you anyway? I could've died!"

"Right. As far as we know, you could've passed out at the first sight of the Kazekage, after what he felt too sorry for you to kill you, so he just left you there... And in case you don't get it, I'm implying that you're a liar and a coward."

Before Sasuke could blink, Kakashi was standing in front of him, holding a couple of kunai. "Akane calm down. You should try to have a normal conversation with people every once in a while, you know, without trowing stuff at them when you get angry."

"Why did you stop those? And they would've hit him to..."

* * *

"Alright people, since you're all (obviously) in good enough shape to travel, pick up your things and get a move on."

"Aaahhh! But I didn't have breakfast yet!"

"Kakashi sensei, I had only 3 bowls!"

"Akane, if you have enough energy to attack Sasuke, you have enough to run, and Naruto, 3 bowls is more than a normal person would eat for a whole day. Now, if there aren't any more complains... Lets go."

* * *

Few hours later, somewhere in the trees...

"Hey! Kakashi! How long till we reach the village?"

"What, you're getting tired Akane?" Sasuke was running across the branches next to her.

"Shut up Sasuke. The next branch might brake under the weight of your mouth." Akane had a victory smirk on her face, he could never have a comeback for that one. Naruto was having a time of his life, he almost missed a branch.

"What's funny, dumb-ass?"

"You are, teme."

Just when they were about to beat each other into a bloody pulp, Kakashi had to butt in - "Enough, all of you, I'd like to keep everyone in one peace until we get to Konoha. You can kill each other then."

"Fine." - All in union.

* * *

Couple of minutes later...

Sakura speed up to be in line with Kakashi - "Hey you guys, do you hear that?"

"Wha-" **_Shuriken! _**"Everyone, heads up!" Akane screamed out before being hit and disappearing in smoke – she had her substitution working.

At the same time, four ninja jumped at them. One of them went after Sakura with a sword, but was stopped by Sasuke. Naruto made shadow clones and ran towards the other one. Kakashi successfully dodged the kunai thrown by the third one. Akane re-appeared behind the wise-guy that throw shuriken at her and sent him flying in the tree with a kick.

Sasuke used his chakra-flowing sword and made a chidori sword, after what he easily went trough his opponent. Naruto went a little over board (as usual) and used his rasengan, resulting a couple of broken trees and one dead ninja. Kakashi's didn't live very long either (he had enough time to blink, though). Akane's opponent quickly got to his feet after coming to his senses and ran at her. She ducked to dodge his fist and then hit him with her own. Thanks to her super strength, he didn't get up again.

Naruto jumped on the ground next to Akane. - "Did we get all of them?"

"I think so. Yo! Guys! Do you sense anyone else around?"

"No. I think there were only these guys, but keep your guard up just in case."

"I know Sasuke, I didn't become a jounin by making a rookie mistake."

Sasuke was standing next to Kakashi, looking at one of the bodies - "What rank were they anyway?"

"Hm... I'd say, a jounin and three chuunin. It would explain why we beat them so easily."

Sakura was standing on the branch above them - "We should get going."

Couple of seconds latter, they were running again at full speed.

* * *

Evening, Konoha gate...

"Finally home!"

"I know you can't wait to hit the bed Akane, but I have to remind you that you have to file your mission report to Tsunade-sama."

"You're killing me Kakashi... I'll do it in the morning."

"You mean like the last one? You better do it now."

"Shut up Sasuke. I gave that report to Tsunade, didn't I?"

"Yeah. Two weeks later, after she threaten to cut your pay short if you didn't."

"Fine, I'll file that stupid report now. Happy?"

"I don't really care."

"Whatever." _**Bastard**. _"I'll see you guys later." **_This is why I'd never be a kage, having to write only one report is a pain, but having all that paperwork would be the death of me._**


	6. Chapter 6

Next morning...

"Ahhh... It's morning already? What a pain..." **_I haven't slept so well in months._**

"Akane! You awake?"

**_Why is the first voice I hear in the morning his? He's so annoying, I can't believe we're related... _**

"No! I'm sleep talking!"

"Very funny smart-ass."

"Is there a reason why you are yelling through my bedroom door this early in the morning or do you just want to annoy me?"

"I have a reason. Annoying you is a bonus. Naruto, Hinata, Sakura and I are going to the ramen shop for breakfast and I want you to join us."

"Why?"

"Because you should spend time with people, you know, socialize."

_**You're the one to talk. **_"Hey! I socialize! I have a lots of friends to prove it!"

"Really? Try counting without _my _friends and the little people in your head."

**_He does have a point there... All people I call friends hang out with me because they're my brother's friends. _**"Fine, I'll be right up."

"Good."

"But don't think you're getting away with that "little people" comment!"

* * *

Thirty minutes later...

"Sasuke! Are you ready?"

"I've been ready for half an hour! What took you so long?"

"I like making you wait. Can we get going now? If you're done whining..."

"Whatever."

* * *

At the ramen shop

"Where are they?" Naruto, Sakura and Hinata were standing in front of the ramen shop.

"Naruto, that's the tenth time you've asked that question in the last five minutes! You're driving me crazy!"

"Just calm down guys... I'm sure they'll be here any minute now. I'm a bit worried though, Sasuke is usually the first one here."

"Don't worry Hinata, I'm sure everything is alright."

"Wher- A! There they are! About time you two, we've been waiting for ages!"

"No need to scream our heads of dumb-ass. We're here now, aren't we?"

"You've been spending to much time with Kakashi sensei Sasuke-_teme_, you're late."

"Don't look at me, I would've gotten here on time if it wasn't for Akane."

**_Oh, brotherly love... What would I do without his support?_** "Why don't you all just shut up so we can eat? Unless you guys aren't hungry..."

"Not hungry? I could eat a house!"

"Tell us something we don't know, Naruto."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later...

Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Sasuke and Akane were sitting, eating ramen. Everyone except Naruto was still strugling with the first bowl, he was on his fourth.

Akane got up from her seat, an empty bowl in front of her. **_I'm out of here... _**"Done. Hope you don't mind taking care of the bill Sasuke, I kinda forgot to bring my money ."

"What? It took you that long to get ready and you didn't bring anything with you?" It was too late for his budget, she was already running down the street.

"Thanks bro, I love you!"

"She always does that! I hate it when she does that!"

Naruto didn't bother to hide his laughter. "Guess ramen's on you, ha Sasuke?"

* * *

Uchiha compound

Akane was in her room, lying on her bed. **_It's good to be by myself again. It's so quiet... Stupid Sasuke... I can't believe he made me have breakfast with him and his friends/girlfriend! Come to think of it, they've all kinda got pared up. My jerk brother and Sakura, Naruto and Hinata, Kiba and Ino, Neji and Tenten... Even Shino found a girlfriend, she's pretty boring, but so is he. Chouji is dating his potato chips bag. Shikamaru is to lazy to care, besides, he's a sexist, who would want to date him anyway? The real punch below the belt was Lee getting a girlfriend. I remember the world going black after hearing those news... When I woke up, I thought I dreamed it all. Then Sasuke reminded me why I passed out. And he wasn't joking. My heart almost stopped. As usual, my dear sibling was very supportive and gentle while he was informing me that, out of all the people around our age that he knows, Shikamaru, Chouji and I are the only ones who are single. I was depressed, but I tried not to show it. I threw only three knifes and tried to knock his head of with a punch twice. He got away alive, but was stuck in the hospital for a week. It gave me time to think about how miserable I am... and to repair the wall._**

She got up and stood in front of the mirror. **_What is wrong with me? I don't get it. I'm nineteen years old and single. _**She observed her reflection. Akane had black hair, black eyes, she was medium hight, not bad curves (or at least she hoped so). **_I guess I'm not as pretty as Ino, but I never though of myself as ugly... I mean, Sasuke and I are (almost) identical twins, and people consider him good looking._**

Knock on the front door interrupted her further thoughts. **_Who is it now? _**It was Shikamaru. "Hey."

"Akane, Tsunade wants to see you in her office."

_**Strange, I could've sworn I gave my mission report last night..**. _"Why? Is it another mission?"

"Don't know. She just said to call you."

"Fine. Lets get going then. The last thing I need is a headache from her yelling at me for being late."


	7. Chapter 7

At the Hokage tower

"Enter." The office door opened and the two jounin walked in.

"Akane, Shikamaru, you're both here. Good, I won't have to explain this twice."

"What's this about, Tsunade-sama?" They both figured they'll probably be going on a mission together. **_Shikamaru is one hell of a strategist, but he can't do much in the live battle... What kind of mission is it?_**

Tsunade took another sip of sake and simply stated - "The war is over."

"WHAT? How? When? Why?"

"Akane, calm down. If I didn't know better I would think that you didn't want it to end."

"Then it's good that you know better, Tsunade-sama."

_

* * *

_

Same time, Sunagakure

The Kazekage was sitting at his desk, going trough some papers. Then a knock on the door was heard. He called for the visitors to enter without rising his head.

"You called us, Gaara?" Two ninja in their twenties walked in, a tall man with brown hair and purple paint on his face and a blond woman with her hair picked up in four pig tails with a giant fan on her back. (**A/N: I used the "man" and "woman" expressions since Kankurou is about 21 and Temari 22, so it kind of fits better than "a guy" and "a girl", doesn't it?)**

The red head looked up to face them. "I have a mission for you."

The man slightly smirked. "About time." His smirk didn't last long – it was interrupted by a short but painful hit in the arm. "Shut up Kankurou!"

"What was that for?"

"For making dumb comments. You can be so annoying sometimes!" They were now facing each other, shooting death glares.

_I can already feel a headache coming..._ He stood up. "You'll either shut up on your own or I'll make you myself."

The other two froze at the sound of his voice, than started to apologize. After a few quick "sorry-s" and the younger man's sight of irritation, they finally went quiet. Then Kankurou spoke. "So what's the mission?

Gaara sat down and looked at them. "You are going to be my escorts at the meeting with other kages in the River Country." And before anyone could interrupt him again, he added - "We are signing a peace treaty."

The older siblings went wide eyed. "Wait! Does that mean the war is over?"

"Technically, yes. But we still need to make it official, and make sure it stays. Anyway, we're leaving in an hour, so get ready."

_

* * *

_

Several minutes later, Konoha, the front of the Hokage tower

Two shinobi were parting towards their homes. "See you later Shikamaru, and don't be late!"

"That's my line! Troublesome woman..."

Akane was walking down the street, on her way to the Uchiha compound. **_I better hurry... Getting packed is going to be such a pain. I don't even know what to pack. What kind of clothing am I going to need anyway? _**

* * *

"_I've just received a letter from the Mizukage. Apparently, all the kages have reached a decision to end this mindless slaughter, therefor we are going to meet to put it all on paper – a peace treaty."_

_Shikamaru cleared his throat. "Alright, we get the picture. So how do we fit in it?"_

"_Simple, you two are coming with Sakura, Shizune and myself, to the River Country, where the treaty will be signed. We are leaving in an hour, should be there by tomorrow noon and we are staying there for a week. Any questions?"_

_Shikamaru scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, why are __we__ going?" _

"_Akane is my bodyguard and you will be advising me. After all this time we finally have a chance to end this war, and I want to make sure we do it right. Now, if that's all, you're dismissed." _

_

* * *

_

**_Good thing River Country has the same climate, I don't have to worry about any weird weather. Like in Suna... _**Then the realization hit her. **_He's going to be there! Of course he is. _**She mentally rolled her eyes at herself. _**When did I become so clueless? I think I've been spending to much time with Naruto.** _She walked inside her house, straight into her room. **_Why am I so nervous? So what if he's going to be there? That's none of my business. And besides, even if I assume that he will recognize me, it's not like he's going to try anything. I doubt he would risk the future of his village just to kill me. _**

Akane finished her packing as quickly as possible, and went to find Sasuke to tell him about the mission. He was on the training ground with the rest of the team Kakashi, minus Sakura. "Hey, Sasuke!"

Sasuke was forced to suddenly stop his spare with Naruto by dodging his attack, which caused the blond to end up in the nearby tree. "What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too. Now don't go all hug-able and lovable on me, you know how emotional I am."

"Akane."

"Yes?"

"Why are you here?"

"Oh, yeah, right... I'm going on a mission with Tsunade, I'm sure Sakura already told you about it."

"Yeah, she mention it, but she didn't say anything about you."

"Well, I'm leaving soon, so wish me luck."

Sasuke just stood before her and smirked. "Just try not to blew it. There are more lives at stake than just your own." She hit him in the arm. "Why do you have to be such an ass?"

"What can I say? I'm just trying to be a good brother."

"Yeah, with _trying_ being the key word." She turned around and began to walk away. "Take care Akane. It would suck if you got killed."

She stopped and turned her head slightly. "I didn't know you cared."

"Annoying you is a lot of fun, I don't want to be rid of it yet."

"Whatever." And with that she was gone.

* * *

At the main gate

_**Ha! I'm the first one here! So much for Shikamaru and his "don't be late" comment. **_Akane decided to stand in the middle of the opened gate and wait. Several minutes have passed and there was still no sign of anyone. "Where the hell is everyone?"

"You mean Tsunade-sama and her escort?" Akane turned around to face one of the guards. "Yes, have you seen them?"

"They left just a few minutes before you got here."

"Oh, that's just great." She turned around and ran of into the forest. **_Tsunade wont let me hear the end of this... I'll just have to try and catch up to them as fast as possible. _**

And she has. When they stopped to rest. "Why did you guys leave without me?" Akane wasn't angry for long, she was automatically suppressed by Tsunade. "Where were you? Wasn't "we're leaving in an hour" specific and clear enough for you?"

Akane put her hands is front of her defensibly and began to back away. "Sorry, Tsunade-sama! Won't happen again! Promise!"

Tsunade just sighed."Never mind. At least you found us before we reached the meeting point."

_

* * *

_

Morning, next day, town in the River Country

Tsunade was walking into a hotel with the rest of the group behind her. Akane was lifelessly staring in an unidentified spot on the Hokage's back.** _Finally... I thought we'd never get here! I so need a shower!_**

They all got keys to their rooms and went to freshen up a bit, since they had a couple of hours before the first meeting starts.

Akane got out of her bathroom ten minutes later and put on her clean clothes. She laid on the bed.** _I might as well have a short nap too... This is going to be a very long week._**


	8. Chapter 8

Meanwhile, with the Sand Siblings

They were running through the trees silently, until a bored voice spoke up for (what had seemed to the other two) a hundred time during the last 15 minutes. "Are we there yet?"

His sister was next to him, desperately trying to keep herself from beating the daylights out of the annoying male. "Does it look like we're there?" Gaara, who was in front of them, slowed down and kept running between them. "Temari, calm down, he's just trying to piss you off... and, Kankurou, say another word and it will be your last." He stated without a single change on his emotionless face. If she didn't know better, Temari would've given her youngest brother an overemotional, bone crushing hug, right on the spot... But she decided on showing off her teeth with a wide green on her face to Kankurou instead.

They finally reached the town in which Gaara was supposed to meet the other Kages in. "Finally! Let's get to a hotel right now, I so need a shower!"

Kankurou was standing behind his sister, holding down chuckles. "Yeah, I think we all noticed that."

Temari caught Gaara's warning glare and sighed. _This better be worth it._ "I'm so glad I'll be able to spend a few hours away from your ugly face Kankurou, I don't think I could hold out any longer without killing you." Kankurou just kept smirking, completely oblivious of the dangerous waters he sailed in. "Like you could."

"That's enough. We have to check in now." With that the red head turned around and started walking towards the hotel. After one final death glare thrown at each other, his siblings hurried behind him.

When they got to their rooms, Temari realized how wonderful life is – not only that she'd got a nice medium sized room with an equal bathroom, but she also found out that Kankurou got the smallest one, with pink walls and fluffed pillows. Oh, yes, life is good.

While Kankurou was sulking about the unfairness of life (and his brother, he knew that, that quiet, little monster did this because he teased Temari), and Temari was in her room laughing her butt off, Gaara decided to use the quiet moment while he could, and took a shower. When he got out of the steamy bathroom, he froze from the feeling of a familiar chakra nearby. _No way... I thought she died._ He concentrated, wanting to be sure he wasn't wrong. _It's definitely her. But how? I know I haven't killed her, but there's no way she could have survived in that condition in the middle of the dessert... _

_Someone probably came for her. I knew I should have killed her back then. _

_Oh, well, nothing that can't be fixed._

* * *

With Akane

She was slowly coming back from her slumber. **_What is that? _**She shot her eyes open, now completely awake. **_Please tell me I'm dreaming... This can't be happening! _**She felt sand wrapping around her arms, legs and neck. Then her black, panicking eyes met the icy blue ones. She couldn't use any jutsus since her hands were trapped in sand. She wanted to call for help, but her mouth was also covered. She didn't expect to be as lucky as she was the last time. All she could do was helplessly stare at him.

Gaara was standing next to her bed, murderous intent clear in his eyes. "What do we have here? It's quite a surprise, considering that you're supposed to be dead." His voice was just loud enough for her to hear him. **_Now what? I'm going to die... I don't want to die! But somehow I don't think he gives a damn about what I want. Guess Sasuke was right, I did screw up. If I didn't fall asleep I wouldn't be in this mess. _**She closed her eyes. **_There is nothing more for me to see anyway._ **She felt the sand move and completely cover her. She held her breath. Her heart was beating so fast she could have sworn that it was going to jump out of her chest. **_I can't believe that it's going to end like this, I wish I had more time. _**He moved his hand, ready to crush her in one move.

Footsteps were heard in the hallway. They stopped outside the room. A knock on the door fallowed. "Akane, are you awake?" Said female shot her eyes open again. **_It's Sakura! We agreed to meet for an early lunch after we rested. _**

Before she knew it, the sand was gone along with it's master. **_Looks like I've still got some of that luck left... To bad it's probably going to run out soon. I know I haven't seen the last of him. _**Sakura knocked again. "Akane?"

"Yes Sakura, I'll be right out, just give me a second."

A couple of minutes later, which was Akane's personal record, they were outside looking for a restaurant. "So, what would you like for lunch? I was thinking about having ramen, I didn't eat it in a while." No answer. Akane just kept walking with her gaze directed somewhere in front of her feet. Sakura felt like she was talking to a wall. "Akane? Is everything alright?"

Akane lift her head to face her. "I'm fine, why do you ask?"

She offered her a small smile. "You seemed concerned that's all... There's no need for you to worry about this mission so much, you'll do fine."

"Yeah, I know." She turned her face away from Sakura and started looking around. "Ramen sounds good."

* * *

On the roof of some house in the town, with Gaara

He was blankly staring at the town under him, not really seeing it. He was to busy with his enraged thoughts. _I was so close... She got away again. She incredibly lucky, I'll give her that._ He turned around to look in the direction of the hotel he was staying in with his siblings (which just happened to be the same one Tsunade and the others were) and decided to head back. _Standing here fuming will get me nowhere, I'll just have to wait._ A few seconds later, he was back in his room. Right on time to hear someone knocking on the door. "Hey Gaara! You in there?" 

"Come in."

The puppet maser casually opened the door and walked in, but prevented himself from coming any closer after seeing his brother pissed off. "Wow, Gaara, what's with the angry face?"

At that moment Gaara realized he wasn't wearing his usually emotionless expression and tried to cover it up. "I don't know what you're talking about." He had already turned back to his usual self, but it was too late. His older brother's usually care-free face was serious. "Alright. Spill. What happened?"

Gaara kept his composure, his arms now crossed. "Nothing."

"I'm not leaving until you tell me. It can take all day if you want." At that moment, Temari appeared behind him. "Tell you what?"

"Nothing. Kankurou's just overreacting."

"Oh yeah? When I came in a moment ago, he was looking like he's ready to rip someone apart. I just want to know why."

"And why are suddenly my emotions so important to you?"

Temari was the one to answer, now completely interested in the conversation. "Because you are our baby brother and we care about you. Besides, whatever got you pissed off must be big, you're never angry for no reason."

Realizing that they aren't going to let it go, Gaara gave up and sighed. "Fine, just close the door first."

Temari shut the door behind her and turned her attention back at him. "So what is it?"

"Remember the last assassin that was sent after me?"

"You mean that girl from Konoha that infiltrated the village in the middle of the night?"

"Yes."

"What about her?"

"She's here."

* * *

**I just want to point out some things: just like in the original series, Shukaku was extracted from Gaara, he died and was revived. Everything is pretty much the same, except for the part where team Kakashi and team Gai came to help – in the story they didn't since Konoha and Suna weren't allies. Anyway, Gaara can still control the sand and he is stronger than ever! (I'm a Gaara fan, deal with it...) Oh yeah, he can sleep but he doesn't sleep much so he still has the dark rings around his eyes. (Personally, I can't really imagine him without those...)**


	9. Chapter 9

The two older siblings were staring at him in shock. "What do you mean she's here? I thought you said you killed her!"

"I didn't say I killed her Kankurou, I said I left her to die in the desert."

"Well I'm _sorry_ for misunderstanding _you_, I was somehow under the impression that _you_ kill those who try to assassinate _you_."

And just when one of the brothers (Kankurou) was about to go down in flames (sand), Temari decided to butt in. "Calm down you two. What's done, it's done... or not done in this case." Gaara shot her a glare, but she continued. "It's pointless to lose your temper over it, especially since you probably won't see her again after we're back to Suna." When they both just stood there in silence, she finally added. "The first meeting starts in 20 minutes, so we better get ready." Then she opened the door and pulled Kankurou out with her, leaving Gaara alone with his thoughts. _Damn Kankurou and his big mouth. I failed to end her life, so what? Anyone can make a mistake. There was no time, I had to act quickly to protect my village and she was simply too irrelevant to waste any time on..._ He glanced at the clock. _I better get ready for that meeting._

* * *

Akane was sitting on her temporary bed, staring at the wall. A knock on the door was heard. "Akane, the meeting starts in 15 minutes, be ready in 10!" It was Shizune. Apparently, it wasn't just Tsunade's obligation to attend the meetings, they all had to be there and get bored to death. But Akane was to preoccupied with her _real _problems to worry about something as insignificant as boredom. Yes, she was thinking about the fact that she'll be trapped in the same room with the Kazekage - for hours! Of course, while she was wholeheartedly re-thinking her "head-for-the-hills" idea, she failed to realize that there will be at least a dozen people in there with them.

"Akane I know you didn't even begin to get ready, so I'll just say that you've got 5 minutes before Tsunade-sama beats the hell out of you for being late... again." This time it was Shikamaru. After hearing silence for an answer he sighed and left. _That woman is so troublesome..._

She let out a sigh. It felt like she was waking up from a trance.**_ Pull yourself together Akane! _**She yelled at herself in her mind while banging her fists onto her head. **_So he's here, and he wants to kill you. Won't be the first or the last one to try. If he thinks that I'm just gonna stand still and stare at him while he kills me, he's got __another thing coming! _**She jumped from the bed like it was on fire and ran into the bathroom to get ready.

* * *

Five minutes later, they were walking inside the meeting's room behind Tsunade. The other kages and their escorts/advisers were already there. Akane quickly scanned the room. It was very big with an enormous round table in the middle. Chairs were placed around it, with people already occupying them, except for the five that were closest to her. They sat with Tsunade in the middle, Shikamaru and Shizune on her left and right, Akane next to Shikamaru and Sakura to Shizune.

The Raikage stood up and spoke. "Since we're all here, this meeting can start." After that he sat down, and the kages started talking one after another, discussing issues among themselves. Akane was just pretending to listen, since it wasn't any of her business. Her eyes absently went to the red-head on her left. He was talking now, while keeping his arms crossed. She looked at the two next to him. The blond woman caught her gaze a moment before Akane turned her head and began staring at the spot above the Mizukage's head like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Temari decided to confirm her suspicions. "Gaara, she's the black haired girl on our right, isn't she?"

"How did you guess?" His voice was a whisper, but she heard it. "She was looking at you a few minutes ago, so I just figured."

"What makes you think she didn't stare at him because of something else?" Kankurou couldn't resist getting into the conversation without a smart-ass comment. "Is that all you think about?" Temari scolded him with a hush tone.

Kankurou smirked at her. "What? That was nothing, just hear my next one."

"Be quiet, both of you. Nobody needs to hear that." Gaara was already losing his patience, it was clear in his voice. But Kankurou said it anyway. "Listen Gaara, how about you let me have some fun with the raven-head over there before you kill her?" Then he winked suggestively.

"Kankurou, say that one more time and I swear I'll kill you instead." The other two went silent after that, just count on Gaara to kill a conversation.

When Akane decided that she stared at that spot long enough, she turned her eyes back at Gaara just to be met by his unreadable gaze. _**Oh no! Don't panic! He's just staring at you, and stares can't kill. Well, unless you're an Uchiha... Our eyes can do more than just stare. **_Akane smirked with pride inside of her head. **_That's it! I'll just use my clan's trademark ability! _**With that thought her eyes became blank as she successfully put on her you-can't-touch-me-cause-I'm-better-than-you face. **_Guess being Sasuke's sibling has it's good sides. _**

* * *

Several hours later, the meeting was finally over. Akane and Shizune were walking out of the room, while pulling Tsunade with them. Shikamaru and Sakura walked out behind them, followed by other kages. Tsunade and the Tsuchikage were yelling at each other on top of their lungs while being dragged by their escorts. **_What was that dumb-ass thinking anyway, calling Tsunade a drunk and gambler? We all know that, but no one in their right state of mind would tell her that in her face! He should be thankful I even bothered to grab her, or he wouldn't have a mouth (or a head for that matter) to yell with right now. _**Her further thoughts were interrupted by Shizune. "Good work in there Akane. Beating up another leader wouldn't do any good for us here. I just hope Tsunade-sama manages to control herself in the future."

"Yeah... Don't worry, I'm sure everything will be alright, everyone snaps every now and then."

"Will you two stop talking about me like I'm not here and let go? I can walk by myself!" Although they were still concerned about Tsunade running back to kill the Tsuchikage, they let go. Better him than them.

The moment later, the Kazekage caught up to them. "Hokage-sama, I have a certain preposition for you, and if you're interested in hearing it I would like us to meet later today to discuss the matter." He said while walking next to her.

"Of course Kazekage-sama. When and where?" Tsunade said with a polite smile while looking at the young man next to her.

_**Faking or hiding emotions is one thing but this is something else. How can she change her mood so quickly is beyond me... **_Akane sighed louder than expected. She glanced around to make sure no one noticed, but turned her head to look at a random direction after seeing Kankurou smirk at her. **_Something in that guy's look is so wrong. _**She saw him coming closer to her until they were almost touching. She quickly moved away. **_Now I know there's something wrong. _**Unfortunately for Kankurou, he ignored her get-away-or-I'll-hit-you signs and ended up in nearby wall. "If you ever touch my butt or any other part of me again, I'll kill you! You got that?" After realizing that he's unconscious and there for couldn't answer if his life depended on it (which it did) she remembered that they weren't alone. **_Oh shit. I didn't just send one of sand ninja into the wall, did I? Well then... What's done is done, I'm not gonna beat myself up for it, it's his fault anyway. _**She turned around to face two very surprised kages. Tsunade simply stared at her with her eyes wide. Since she didn't expect the old woman to show any signs of mental activity any time soon, she turned her gaze at Gaara. Unlike Tsunade's case, what she saw there completely caught her of guard. He was smirking, obviously very amused. "Temari wake Kankurou up. There's no way anyone here is going to carry him."

"Yeah, especially since that dead brain of his probably weights a tone all by itself." **_Did I just say that out loud?_ _And the biggest idiot award goes to the dumb girl in the center of attention! _**Just when she was about to sink into the ground in attempt to hide, she felt someone pull her by the arm and take her through the hallway, leaving everyone else behind. "I think you humiliated yourself enough for one day, of course I could be wrong." She smiled at him. "Thanks for the save Shikamaru."

"Hey, what are friends for anyway? Besides, I can't remember the last time I got to see you knocking out a guy for touching you, since there's nobody in Konoha who has the guts to do it."

"I know... I really missed the feeling." She stated while staring at the sky. "You woman, have one sick mind, you know that?"

"Yeah, and you love me for it!" She started laughing after seeing his expression. "Relax, I was just kidding!"

They went inside the hotel while Shikamaru muttered something that incredibly sounded like "Troublesome woman."


	10. Chapter 10

As soon as Sikamaru left her in her room, Akane took a shower. Ten minutes later, she was lying on the bed in her robe while staring at the ceiling. The comfortable silence that was currently enveloping both the room and her empty mind was rudely interrupted by another knock at the door – that seems to happen quite often. She let out an irritated sigh. **_Now what?_**

"Akane I just wanted to let you know that Shikamaru and I will be going with Tsunade-sama to meet the Kazekage. You and Sakura have the rest of the day off."

**_Thank goodness! _**"Alright. Thanks Shizune." The moment she heard her walk away, Akane jumped of her bed and started getting dressed.**_ I better hurry and get out of here before Tsunade changes her mind. _**A few minutes later she opened the window, went through it, closed it, and was out on the street.

**_I think I'll have something to eat first. Then I'll go shopping for some new weapons! _**She started greening like an idiot when the next thought came to her.** _Sasuke's gonna freak out when he finds out I took his money! _**She took out her wallet to take a look.** _Well it serves him right after insulting my cooking... I know he faked the food poisoning that time just for the heck of it! _**She looked up, putting the wallet back in her bag.** _Then again, I guess I should have checked the expiration date on that... Wow! Sweets! I'm so eating here! _**Akane walked into the restaurant but stopped on it's entrance after spotting a familiar face.** _Just great... Maybe she won't see me. Scratch that, she's looking straight at me! Alright then, she'll probably act like she doesn't see me. Although, she is waving in my direction a little too energetically for someone who is pretending not to see me. Oh dear, she's getting up... and walking towards me. _**"Hey! You're Akane, right?"** _And now she's talking to me... _**

"Are you alright?" Temari was waving her hand in front of Akane's face. "Sorry, what did you say? I didn't catch it."

"You seemed a little out of it a moment ago. Never mind, do you want to eat something together? My treat." Temari smiled at her while talking.

**_If I want to avoid it without being rude I'll have to think of a good excuse... Think fast! _**"Well... I..."

Temari was practically reading her mind. "You don't have to if you don't want to. I just wanted some company. Living with two brothers can do that to a person."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. You can't live with them, you can't live without them either... Wait, you have two brothers?"

Temari smiled at her reaction. "Yeah, you've met them." After seeing Akane's confused look, she added. "Gaara and Kankurou."

"Oh..."**_ Isn't that great... I almost killed one of her brothers and knocked out the other one in front of her! I think this is a beginning of a wonderful friendship! _**While Akane was stuck in her thoughts Temari took her hand and dragged her to the table. Akane realized what was happening when she felt being pushed in the chair. "Now, what are you having?"

"You're not planning on letting me go, are you?"

"No. Like I said, my treat."

"Fine. I'll have what you have."

"Not very picky, ha?"

"Actually I am, but there isn't anything in this kind of restaurant that I won't eat."

* * *

Several minutes later, they got their orders and started eating. "So you have two brothers too? Interesting..." **_Right... I can't imagine anything more interesting than that. _**"Listen Temari... Why don't you just stop beating around the bush and say what you have to say. I doubt you wanted to buy me lunch just so you could talk about my family."

"Actually, I wanted to get to know you."

"Why?" **_After what I did, the last thing she should want to do with me is be friends... _**Than a thought hit her. **_Maybe it's just the opposite._**

"I know what you're thinking and it's not it."

"Huh? How could you possibly know what I'm thinking?"

Temari smiled at her. "I'm not trying to get close to you so I could kill you. If you think about it, I'm the least of your worries."

"That's funny. I never thought that the Kazekage would be the kind of a person to tell people stuff..."

"You mean the fact that his last assassination was attempted by the person in front of me? You were right. He isn't that kind of person. Unfortunately, Kankurou and I have out methods."

Akane didn't answer. She just kept staring down at her food. "Whether you believe it or not, I don't hate you for it." That statement fulfilled it's purpose when Akane lifted her head up to look at her. "Sure, someone trying to kill my baby brother does upset me, but that was your mission, it's not like you had a choice. Besides, he's still alive, so no harm done."

"You're weird, you know that?"

"Really? Why is that?"

"Well... If someone tried to kill one of my brothers, and I met that person later, I wouldn't waste an opportunity to kill them. Mission or not."

"You take things personal, don't you? You and Gaara can agree on that one."

"And that would probably be the only thing we'd ever agree on, since I'm not a fan of him killing me in my sleep."

Temari laughed at this. _This girl really knows how to make fun of a serious situation._ "Don't worry, I don't think he's going to try it again, especially after today's meeting with the Hokage."

Akane didn't bother to hide her surprise or her interest. "Why not? And what about the meeting?"

"He got carried away the last time, probably because he didn't expect you to be alive. As for the meeting, it's about Suna – Konoha alliance. I think you get the picture."

"Alliance? I guess that makes sense... in a way. Speaking of which, why aren't you at the meeting?"

"Gaara gave me the rest of the day off. Apparently, just one of us is enough and thanks to the little scene you two caused earlier, he figured that someone should keep an eye on Kankurou before he embarrasses himself and the village."

It was Akane's turn to laugh. "Wow. I almost feel sorry for him."

"You better leave it on that. You don't want to actually pity him... thrust me. Anyway, do you have any other plans today?"

"I wanted to go and waste my brother's money on shopping." Temari gave her a confused look. "It's a payback for who knows what!" Then they both started laughing. "Do you mind me tagging along? I've got nothing better to do anyway..."

"Not at all. Let's just finish here and get going."

* * *

Several hours and who knows how much money later, they decided to call it a day and went towards the hotel. Temari had a huge smile on her face. "This was so much fun! We should definitely do it again sometimes!"

"Yeah... **_I can't remember the last time I felt so relaxed._** It's like a vacation! Or something like that. I wouldn't know..." Akane stared at the sky absently.

Temari turned her head to face her. "You never had a break either, have you?"

"I guess that's another thing we can relate to." Akane faced her with a small smile.

"Yeah. I wonder how the meeting went."

"Only one way to find out."

* * *

They parted on the hotel stairs. "See you later then."

"Sure thing. Bye."

Akane went into her room. She knew that someone's gonna inform her sooner or later of whatever happened on Tsunade's meeting with Gaara, so she didn't bother to go looking for someone to tell her now. She put the bags next to her bed and started taking things out of them. **_This went pretty well, I guess... _**Akane finished putting the new things away half an hour later, then she took some stuff in the bathroom to put on after the shower. She went out after a while with a white shirt and light blue shorts on and went to bed. She fell asleep a few moments later.

If Akane wasn't as careless as she seemed, she would have noticed the opened window and a few grains of sand on it.


	11. Chapter 11

It's been almost an hour since Akane went to bed. She was sleeping motionlessly, apparently unaware of anything around her. Gaara was standing next to the bed, watching her intensively. _She is as careless as ever... How did this woman become a shinobi in the first place is beyond me._ He was about to turn around to leave when he felt cold steel pressed to his neck. "What are you doing here?"

A woman that was supposedly lying on the bed sleeping was now standing next to him with her sword on his throat. He looked at her from the corner of his eye and smirked. _Maybe I underestimated her a little._

"Well?" Akane was getting very irritated very fast. **_This guy... Not only that he had the nerve to come here again, but he doesn't seem to be planning on saying anything about it!_**

He turned his head to the side, facing her. "I didn't come to kill you, if that's what you're worried about." He looked at her, but their gazes didn't meet – she had her eyes closed, although she was still steadily holding the sword. The second later her eyes flashed open, revealing her unspoken anger. Gaara's eyes widened for a moment, before he regained his composure. To his, yet another surprise, she removed the blade that she previously held close to him.

"Do you really think I care about that?" She held her sword on her side, her voice barely more than a whisper, but still strong enough for him to hear her. Although she tried to cover it, he didn't miss the rage that radiated out of her every word. "What do you care about, if it isn't your life?"

"Come with me and find out." With that she went to the window and jumped outside.

Gaara's eyes narrowed skeptically while he was staring at the spot Akane occupied a second ago. _What is she up to?_ He sighed. _There's only one way to find out. I just hope I wont regret this later..._ Than he went after her.

_

* * *

What is going on in that mind of hers?_ They were standing on a large clearing in the middle of the forest, a few miles outside the town. "Why are we here?"

Akane was just watching him for a while before she spoke. "You think I'm weak, right?" She didn't expect him to answer, because that was more of a statement that a question. After noticing a confused look on his face, she continued. "I want to prove you wrong."

"Why? Does it really matter what I think? You must be a pretty shallow person to care so much about an opinion of a stranger."

Akane slightly chuckled. "Shallow? I think you misunderstood. I don't care what you think about _me_, it's what you think about _my_ skills that bothers me. Besides, you're not really a stranger."

Gaara had an amused smirk on his face. He wasn't sure where this was going, but he didn't want to end it now. "Really? How so?"

"Well, we've been seeing each other for quite a while, we know each others' names, not to mention that your sister told me some stuff about you..." She was counting on her fingers while trying to remember other reasons, when he interrupted her. "You were talking to Temari? When?"

"Today. We had lunch and went shopping together. Oh and, you might want to check how much money you've got left, since I don't think there was a store she didn't buy something from, and I honestly doubt that she can afford all that even with her jounin budget."

Gaara went wide eyed. "She took _my_ money?"

"Yeah... Sorry about that, but if you don't mind putting that aside for now, I would like us to get on with why we were here in the first place. You can freak out later."

His eyes narrowed at her, but he decided to remain calm. "Fine. You want a fight, I'll give you one." He smirked. "But don't complain if I accidentally kill you."

Akane was now smirking herself, confidence was never a problem for an Uchiha. "Like you could."

"Said the person who I left half dead in the desert."

"That was different."

"The situation yes, but the outcome will be the same."

"Enough talk, lets fight."

* * *

It was around midnight when they were finally tired enough to admit it. They both had scratches all over them. Akane's right hand was still bleeding from the wound Gaara's sand caused after he tried to crush it – she managed to pull it out in time. Gaara on the other hand, had his left shoulder pierced – he hadn't counted on her to charge at him with that raikiri. Did she miss his chest on purpose, or was it the sand that helped him avoid the fatal blow, he wasn't sure nor was planning on wasting his energy to find out – it didn't matter anyway.

They've been just sitting on the ground, staring at each other while panting, until Akane gathered enough breath to speak. "So?"

Gaara couldn't believe that she actually had enough strength and will left to talk. He definitely wasn't in the mood for talking. "What?" He asked, irritated, while hoping that she'll ignore her feminine instincts and keep her mouth shut.

Unfortunately for him, Akane had other things in mind. "What do you mean what? Here I am, almost dying to prove you that I'm not a weakling, and you don't even know what to say?"

_This just isn't my day..._ Soon it became clear to the young Kazekage how right he was, and how, without any doubt, all women are the same. "What do you want me to say?" Of course, as soon as those words left his mouth, he knew that was the wrong answer.

"You... jerk! What _do_ I want _you_ to say? I can't believe you just said that! I always knew most men were complete idiots, like that pervert brother of yours, but deep inside my heart, I've always hoped that some of you had at least one half of your brain fully functional left! Out of all..." And she kept going... Gaara just set there, looking at her. _Where does she find the energy? Even Temari would be tired of yelling by now..._ The line of his thoughts was cut short when Akane suddenly froze. She just looked at him for a second, and then, without a warning, collapsed.

* * *

Later next morning, Gaara was sitting on his bed, listening to, yet another woman yell. When Temari found out what happened, saying that she didn't take it well would be an understatement. He chose to ignore her since he was to tired to deal with her at the moment. _The Hokage took the whole thing extremely good. I expected her to demand an explanation of some sort, or even to decide that she doesn't want to make an alliance between our villages. The way women' mind works is very confusing._

* * *

That night/morning

After Akane went on shut down, Gaara simply picked her up and went towards the hotel. He first woke up his siblings, after what he had planned on going to Tsunade herself. Temari's reaction saved him the walk, since she started screaming like mad when she saw her youngest brother carrying her newest friend trough the door. She freaked out even more when she noticed the blood on both of them. That, eventually woke up the rest of the hotel, including the leaf shinobi. Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura practically ran into Temari's room, with Shikamaru close behind. While Sakura worked on Akane, Tsunade offered to heal Gaara herself. "What happened Kazekage-sama?"

He decided to make his answers short. The quicker they get through this, the better. "We fought."

"You were attacked?" The old woman sounded worried.

"No. We fought against each other."

Tsunade stopped healing him for a moment, shocked. "Why?"

"She wanted to prove to me that she wasn't weak."

To his surprise, she smiled and went on with the healing. "So, did she? Prove herself to you that is."

"Yes." With that he turned his head to the side to see Akane still lying unconscious on his sister's bed while Sakura was healing her.

Tsunade followed his gaze. "She can be very difficult at times, I'm not surprised things came out this way."

He gave her a worried look. "I never meant for it to go this far."

"Don't worry, this doesn't change anything. Sure, one of my joinin is lying out cold after fighting a leader of the Sand village, but that's Akane we're talking about, and something tells me she would've gotten herself into some kind of trouble one way or another..." After seeing a confused look on the young man's face she continued. "I know that the last thing she attended to do is get in the way of our negotiation, so we might as well forget about the whole thing. Besides, if I know anything about that kid, then it's that she's one tough nut. You can be sure that she'll be up and running all over my nerves first thing in the morning!" Tsunade finished that statement with a sound of annoyance in her voice.

* * *

After getting Gaara and Akane fixed, Tsunade, Sakura and Shizune left along with Shikamaru who carried out Akane. Gaara went to his room with his siblings behind him. He ignored them and went to take a shower. Then he got out and sat on his bed, while Temari started screaming at him. It went on...

Later in the morning, when Temari realized that Gaara wasn't paying any attention to her, she took a deep breath in the attempt to calm herself – and the time began to exist again, but just for a moment. "Just forget it! I don't know why I'm even wasting my breath! You almost killed Akane and yourself, you kept us up all night -"

"Actually, Temari, you kept us up all night..." Kankurou was sleeping on a chair, and woke up after hearing the absence of his sister's voice for a moment. He regretted waking up after she started yelling at him for not being supportive and how he has nothing to complain about since he _did _sleep.

* * *

Meanwhile, Akane finally woke up in her room just in time to face Tsunade. "You're awake. Good. Now you can explain to me why you fought the Kazekage."

Akane looked at her and gulped.**_ Busted. _**


	12. Chapter 12

Akane sat up in her bed upon noticing the serious look on the old woman's face. "Tsunade-sama!"

Tsunade let out a sigh and stated calmly. "Akane, relax. I was just kidding. You don't have to say anything. I don't need to hear it." Those words put the much younger woman in state of pure shock. "W-what?"

"I already know everything that I need to know, so I'm not going to interrogate you for no reason. I just came to see how you're doing and to ask you- no, to order you to keep yourself out of situations like this in the future. Do I make myself clear?"

Akane sighed with relief. "Of course, Hokage-sama. Won't happen again." **_Wait a second! Something isn't right here! _**As soon as the thought hit her, Akane started glaring at the blond suspiciously. "Um... Tsunade-sama?

"Yes, my dear subordinate?"

**_What a h- What is she up to? _**Akane crossed her arms while narrowing her eyes at the Hokage. "Alright, spill."

Tsunade looked at her, acting surprised. "What do you mean?"

"I knew you were up to something the moment you began with that _"I don't need to hear it"_ speech. So, what is it? I know you wouldn't let me off the hook that easily."

"Well, I wanted to keep it a surprise till the last moment, but since you insist-"

"Just say it already!"

Tsunade shot her a glare. "If you would just restrain yourself from cutting me of-"

"Fine, I will!"

"You didn't just cut me off just to say that you'll stop cutting me off?"

"Can we discuss my manners some other time? I don't think that I can keep my attention towards you for much longer..." With that Akane's eyes went to the window, proving her point. She wouldn't have been so carefree if she hadn't missed the sadistic smirk on her superiors face. "You're going to Suna."

"What?"

"I said, you're going to Suna. As soon as we get home from this mission, you're packing bags and leaving. You'll say there for at least three months."

That was the last thing Akane heard before passing out.

* * *

Meanwhile, certain siblings successfully changed roles. "Gaara, you have to believe me! I took your wallet by mistake, I thought it was mine! I would never spend your money without asking you about it first, you know that! Right?"

"Don't worry Temari, I believe you."

"Y-you do?"

"Of course. We're siblings, so it's quite natural." Just when she was about to jump out of joy, he continued. "And that's why I want you to believe me when I say that both Kankurou and I are going to miss you."

"Oh... Wait, what? Why would you miss me Gaara? I'm not going anywhe-"

"You are going to Konoha. It's a part of a program to strengthen our new alliance."

Temari barely spoke out, she couldn't believe what her brother was saying. "But, why me?"

"Consider it a payback... Besides, you're the only one who, by my opinion, won't do anything that would embarrass our village or start another meaningless war."

She sighed in defeat. "Fine. It's not like I have a choice... So, how long am I staying?"

"Three months."

"THREE MONTHS? WHAT AM-"

"Keep your voice down. My decision is final, and your screaming won't change that."

Temari shot her brother an angry glare, turned on her heel and ran into her room.

"I know you're angry Gaara, but sending her away for that long?" Kankurou was sitting on a chair, looking worriedly at their sister's shut door.

"She'll get over it, and I really meant what I said. She's one of rare people that I trust to do this job right. Of course, if you want to go instead, I'll-"

"No need to get hasty! You're right, Temari is definitely the right person for the job!"

Gaara just smiled at his brother's reaction. "I thought so."

* * *

After the week was up and the meetings were over, everyone got ready to leave. Tsunade and Gaara had decided to say their farewells in front of the hotel. "I'm glad that we managed to work things out. Ending this war and starting our new alliance was probably the best decision I've made in years!"

"You shouldn't be too hard on yourself, Tsunade-sama, we all did what we thought was best. There's no point in blaming ourselves now."

The older woman just smiled and nod her head in return.

* * *

In the meantime, Kankurou was staring at Akane. It annoyed her to no end. "What are you looking at?"

He smirked. "I was just thinking about how much I'm looking forward to you living with me."

Now she was really confused. "What are you talking about?"

"It's simple. You and Temari are switching places. She's gonna live in your house in Konoha, while you live in hers – in other words, with Gaara and me."

It took her a while to understand what he was saying. "With you and -" Her gaze got stuck on the read-head for a moment. "No way! Tsunade-sama?" Akane was looking pleadingly at the Hokage.

"I'm sorry Akane, but it's true."

"But... why?"

"To tell you the truth, it costs less that way."

"But what about-"

"I already sent a massage to your brothers and they agreed to let Temari stay with them."

Akane looked like she's about to scream, cry and faint at the same time. **_I can't believe this is happening! It's so unfair! Well... look at the bright side. At least I won't have to put up with Sasuke for whole three months! Oh joy..._**

* * *

After one whole and very boring day, they finally reached Konoha. "Alright people! Go home, have some rest, and Akane, I'm going to send Sasuke as your escort to Suna, so you better tell him to pack."

Upon hearing this Akane frowned. "But Tsunade-sama! I don't need an escort, especially not in a form of that j-"

"Enough. I've already decided. End of discussion."

"But -"

"No."

"Bu-"

"Akane! Shut up and go home already!" _I'm so relieved that I'm going to get rid of her for whole three months! I don't think that I could take any more of her at the moment. Now if I could only find a way to get rid of Naruto..._

Raven-headed girl opened her mouth to say something again (probably another attempted "but") but decided against it and silently turned around and left. Tsunade watched her retrieving back. _Maybe I was too hard on her..._ She shook her head on that thought. _No... She'll get over it in no time. That's one of the reasons I choose her for this mission in the first place._ The blond woman smiled warmly and walked away towards the Hokage tower.

* * *

"I'm home!" Akane yelled through the door while taking her sandals off.

"What a surprise! You actually made it back alive."

"Funny, Sasuke. That really makes me wonder why you became a ninja in the first place, you should have been a comedian. You'd definitely be more successful at that job, but that would hardly be an accomplishment, considering that you suck at your original occupation." She stated with a smirk.

While Sasuke was gaping at her, trying to think of a comeback, another voice broke through the silence. "It seems that you've actually payed attention on those meetings, instead of pretending not to be asleep like you usually do. If it weren't for you childish behavior, I would say that you've really grown Akane."

"Itachi! You're back!" And before the pore male knew it, he was lying on the ground while being hugged to death. "I've missed you!" She was looking at him with a wide smile spread across her face.

"Akane... How many times have I told you not to do that? Come on, get of."

She quickly stood up, pulling him with her. "Sorry big bro. Won't happen again."

"Right. Till the next time." Sasuke managed to ruin another bother-sister bonding moment with a smart-ass comment. Akane turned around to face his I-think-I'm-so-cool smirk, and chuckled. "I think someone's jealous for not getting a hug."

"What? I'm not."

"You are."

"I'm not."

"You so -"

"That's enough you two." Itachi turned around and started walking down the hall. The younger two followed him while exchanging some quite colorful and yet silent words. "Tell me, Akane, how was you mission?" Itachi asked while walking into the kitchen.

"It was fine... You do know that I'm going to Suna tomorrow?" She sat at the table, her eyes still locked on her brother.

"Yes. Tsunade mentioned it in her message. I hope you have good time there." Itachi put their dinner on the table and sat.

"I'm gonna miss you and Konoha. I still can't believe that I'll be away for so long..."

"I can't believe that you actually think that you're going to survive that long in the desert. It's completely different from here, you know. I'd hate to be you."

"Yes, Sasuke, I know that it's different. Fortunately, you'll be able to gain a first hand experience on how the desert is, since you'll be coming with me as my escort tomorrow." She ended with a smirk, waiting for his reaction.

"What are you smirking at? If you think that I'm going to give you the pleasure of seeing me panic, you have another thing coming. Besides, if you can take the heat, so can I."

Akane just lowered her head down and faced her food with a smirk. **_We'll just have see about that, won't we?_**

* * *

A while later, they finished their dinner and went to bed. Akane doubted that she'll be able to sleep very well that night, she was too excited. **_Oh well... It won't hurt to at least try. After all, I need all the energy that I can get if I'm planning to make Sasuke eat his words during the next three days._**


	13. Chapter 13

**_What is that sound? It's a voice... _**Akane was struggling with her thoughts, still half asleep. **_It sounds familiar... _**BANG

She forcefully removed the invading object, also known as her pillow, while shooting her eyes wide open to glare at her attacker. "What was that for?"

"You weren't waking up so I decided to help you."

"Well then maybe you'd like some help with eating your breakfast! How about a knuckle sandwich?" And with that she jumped out of her bed and went running after the poor idiot, also known as Sasuke, who had the nerve to wake her up in such a brotherly way.

While they were running trough the house, Itachi broke the monotony created by Akane's growling and Sasuke's girlish screams by something that sounded a lot like "Akane, don't break anything with a material value!" which she answered with "no worries, Sasuke doesn't need his head anyway".

Few minutes later, three, I mean two siblings were sitting at the table and having breakfast. Sasuke was at the hospital with Tsunade who offered to fix him up personally, so he wouldn't miss his mission.

"You didn't have to hit him that hard..."

"Why not, Tsunade's gonna heal him anyway."

"It _was _just a pillow."

"I know, life can be so cruel sometimes, don't you think so?"

"You are pure evil, you know that?"

"Yeah..." She suddenly stopped eating and looked her brother straight in the eyes. "You know that this doesn't mean that I don't love him...?"

"Of course, you just got carried away, right? Killing him would mean that you don't love him."

Akane was now playing with her food absently. She wasn't looking at him, but Itachi could still read her like an open book. "You're going to miss us, aren't you?"

She lifted her head up to meet his gaze. "Tell anyone and you're a dead man."

He just looked at her with a small smile, while leaning his elbows on the table. "Deal."

* * *

Meanwhile, yet another peaceful day in Sun- "Hey Temari! Are you ready yet? We have to go!"

"Will you shut up? I've heard you the first ten times! I'm coming in a minute, I just have to make sure I didn't forget anything." Temari practically mumbled the last part while checking her never ending list of stuff she had decided to bring with her to Konoha.

"You know you can always buy whatever you need there or send us a message to bring it..." When Kankurou got tired of waiting for her downstairs and went to see what's taking her so long, he didn't expect to see his older sister on verge of tears. "Listen, Temari, it's not going to be that bad, I'm sure you'll have a great time there, you'll just have to take it easy and get used to it at first." He sat next to her and hugged her tightly.

"It's not that... It's just, I'm going to miss you and Gaara... the village too... I've never been away for so long." Her voice was low, she was fighting hard not to cry.

"You don't have to go." They turned around to see the youngest sibling standing at the door. "I can order someone else to do it."

Those words seemed to be exactly what Temari needed. "What? You said that I'm one of the few people you trust to do this job right! Besides, I can't bail now!" Before her brothers could say another word, she grabbed her bag and went out. "Kankurou, hurry up! We're going to be late!"

Kankurou just sighed and stood up. "She'll never change."

"I'm afraid not."

"Nice work, by the way. No wonder you're the Kazekage." The red-head smirked in return. Before his brother left, he said just one more thing. "Kankurou, be careful."

"Yeah, see ya soon, and don't forget to welcome our guest when she gets here." Kankurou winked at the end of his sentence and left, leaving Gaara to his thoughts. _Right... Akane._

* * *

Almost three days later, somewhere in the desert, hopefully closing in to the Sand village were one very frustrated Sasuke and one extremely relaxed Akane. "I spy with my eye something... something yellow!"

"It's sand. Like the last time, and the time before." Sasuke was one step away from strangling her.

"Sure it is... How did you guess?" Akane asked with a fake curiosity.

"I get it! The place is full of sand, it's a desert, get used to it!"

"You just have to spoil all the fun, don't you?"

"Shut up."

"Fine, I will." Sasuke felt like hitting himself in the head with something. _She's been spending too much time with Naruto... I never though she could be that annoying._

* * *

About an hour later, they were still walking. "Will you hurry up?"

"Relax princess... I thought you said that you could take the heat?" She was slowly walking behind him.

"I can. I just don't want to waste more time than necessary. I swear, if you were walking any slower, you'd be going backwards..."

While Akane was trying to imagine how it would be like if she went backwards a thought hit her. **_The sun must have really hit him in the head. He completely ignored the me-calling-him-a-princess part._**

She was taken out of her thoughts by Sasuke. "Finally! Looks like I'll be free of you in a flash."

She looked in front of them to see what he was so happy about. And there it was, the Hidden Sand village in all it's glory. Just the walls actually, but the village was behind it, which was what mattered the most.

Few minutes later, they were at the gate where they were greeted by the Kazekage.

Akane approached with a smile. "Nice to see you again Gaara-sama."

He smiled in return. "Same here."

Sasuke, on the other hand, had decided to make it quick. "It's an honor to meet to Kazekage-sama, I'm Sasuke Uchiha."

"The honor is mine."

"Well, if you don't mind, I'll be on my way now." Sasuke said while turning around to leave.

"You can stay and rest for a while."

"No need, I'll be just fine as soon as I have a few miles between myself and this annoyance."

All Gaara could do is stare in disbelief at Sasuke while he was saying his goodbyes and running of in the direction of Konoha.

"What a jerk." Akane's statement brought his attention back to her.

"He should have stayed at least for an hour, there was no rush."

"Not from his point of view." She had a small smile on her face, and Gaara could have sworn there was something demonic about it. _What did she do?_ In the end, he decided to leave the matter alone for the time.

"Lets go." With that he turned around and went through the passage between the cliffs.

"Right." 

_

* * *

_Next morning, in Suna

"Kankurou, you're dead!" Was all Gaara heard while sitting in the kitchen, calmly eating his breakfast. _What did he do?_ Then there was a loud crash, Kankurou's girlish scream, then a sound of something heavy hitting something empty _That one probably being Kankurou's head..._ then there was a long silence. After that, Akane joined him in the kitchen fully dressed. "Sorry for getting up late, I guess I was tired from yesterday." He turned his gaze towards her, she was wearing a black miniskirt and a dark blue shirt with naked shoulders. When he realized that he was staring, mainly at her legs, he quickly answered. "Don't worry about it. Does-"

"He'll be fine, he's just going to have a major headache when he wakes up."

"What did he do anyway?"

"Spilled cold water all over me."

"Alright then." He got up and turned to leave. "I'll be in my office. Stop by later so I can tell you what you'll be doing here."

"Ok."

**

* * *

In case anyone's wondering:**

**I know that Gaara and Sasuke being friendly with each other is kinda OC but unlike the original series, they've never met before, or fought, so it makes sense;**

**Also, you might have noticed that this was the first time I've actually described what someone was wearing. I'm not very good at those descriptions, so I'll put them in the story only when they're somewhat important for it, in all other cases, I'll leave it up to you guys to put on them what ever you want, unless I say they were naked, which probably won't happen since this story is rated T. **


	14. Chapter 14

While Akane was trying her best to fit in at her new home, her sister in misfortune, A.K.A. Temari, had her own problems.

"Where did I put it? I could've sworn I left it somewhere in this room last night!" She's been screaming at no one in particular while searching for her misplaced fan.

"What are you yelling about?" Sasuke was standing at the doorway, glaring at her. He didn't mind getting up early, but it was his day off and the last thing he expected was to be woken up by a screaming hyperactive annoyance. Seriously, didn't he leave that at Suna a couple of days ago?

"I can't find my fan! I know it's here! Somewhere..." She was still frantically looking around, picking up other things to check under them, even though there wasn't a theoretical chance that she would've put her fan there.

"You mean this?" She turned around to look at him, just to find him holding her precious fan.

"Where was it?"

"Near the door..." Sasuke sighed. "And here I thought I'll be able to take a break from Akane during these three months... So much for that theory."

_

* * *

_Later in Suna...

"What?" Akane was staring at Gaara wide eyed, while he was calmly sitting at his desk.

"I said that you are going to help the Academy teachers at the training grounds."

"Why?"

"Because we are short on teachers after a certain accident that occurred a week ago." Before she had a chance to whine again, he continued. "Besides, there aren't any higher level mission that I could give you at this point."

"Yes, of course... Are you completely insane?" She was getting louder by the second and Gaara was wondering if there was a single person in the village that hasn't heard her last question. "I'm not very good with kids! In fact, I'm not very good with people in general! I've never worked as a teacher or anything that resembles a teacher! What if I kill someone?" At that moment a couple of ANBU black ops appeared in front of their Kazekage and pushed Akane on the ground while restraining her.

While one of them was holding down now fuming raven, the other one spoke to Gaara. "Are you alright Kazekage-sama?"

Gaara smirked at the site before him and stood up. "I'm fine, good work." Then he walked over to the other black op and Akane (who was, by the way, still lying on the floor). "It appears that _some_ people here haven't learned their place yet."

"For your information _Gaara_, I always react like that when _someone _gives me an inappropriate mission." It was amazing how easily she was able to come from completely mad to perfectly calm in a matter of seconds. That, of course didn't last long. The moment later she was glaring at the red head who was standing in front of her and the black op. "Well?" She asked impatiently.

"Well what?"

"Are you going to tell him to let me go?" Akane asked again with an irritated voice.

Gaara smirked in return before turning around and walking to one of the windows. "Lock her up for a couple of hours."

Akane's eyes widened in shock, but quickly narrowed at the Kazekage. "And make sure she goes to the training grounds as soon as you release her."

"Yes sir." Black ops said in unison before disappearing along with Akane.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Akane was walking down the street towards the training grounds, after successfully convincing the black ops that she will go there. She had decided to do as told without complaining, no matter how low graded her missions get. That wasn't out of her character, but was definitely unusual. However, that didn't stop her from being irritated because of the recent events and angry at a certain kage.

While she was trying to push her emotions away, so she could concentrate on more important things at hand, she didn't notice that she was letting out chakra. Her energy was leaking out of her body in amounts that only increased with time and going up into the atmosphere. Since her chakra was partly lightning nature, it started gathering dark storm clouds above the village.

By the time she reached her destination, the entire village, except for her, had noticed the incoming storm. Akane realized what was happening when she heard thunder. Unfortunately, she didn't make it in time to stop a lightning from hitting the nearest training ground. **_Ops... _**Was her only thought before she ran to the place where it hit. After making sure that nobody was hurt, Akane turned her gaze towards the sky and focused. The lightnings and thunder stopped, and the clouds disappeared, leaving the sky clear again.

She turned her gaze down, only to be met by the confused eyes of the Academy students. **_Alright, you can do this. Just don't panic, they can smell fear. _**She nervously smiled at them before speaking. "Hi! My name is Akane Uchiha, and I'm your substitute teacher."

With that, the previous shock was gone, and they all began talking and asking questions, at the same time. Akane stared at them in disbelief for a moment. Then she sighed while putting her hand into a Sheep hand sign. A second later a lightning fell from the clear sky, landing among the terrified students.

"No that I've got your attention, is there anyone in this class who can tell me what you're supposed to do?"

"How should we know? You're the teacher!"

Akane sighed. **_This is going to be such a pain..._** Then she felt someone pulling the end of her skirt. She looked down to see a couple of big brown orbs that belonged to a small, black haired girl. "Sensei gave us these notebooks. He said that they are instructions about what we have to do until he gets out of the hospital, and that we should give them to his replacement."

Akane took two books that the girl was holding. One of them had a list of students in it, and the other one was, indeed, a scheduler for the activities. She looked back at the girl who was now standing further away from her. "What is your name?"

"It's Yuka, sensei." The girl answered in a low voice.

Akane greened at her before she spoke again. "Thank you, Yuka! Without these, I would probably be teaching you how to make fireballs!" While she was laughing, her students were staring at her worriedly. And they thought their old sensei was weird.

* * *

A few hours later, Akane left the training ground. She considered going back to the kage house to eat, but went to a restaurant instead. She ate quietly, without being bothered, while thinking about her first day in Suna. **_This mission Gaara gave me might not be so bad after all... I barely have to do anything, except for making sure those kids don't kill each other by accident. _**She slightly smiled at her last thought, before paying her bill and leaving the restaurant.

It was dark outside and the streets were pretty much empty. **_Wow, it's night time already! I didn't even notice. _**She was walking slowly towards the kage mansion while looking at the sky. **_No wander people say that stars are the prettiest in the desert. I don't remember the last time I saw the sky so clearly. It's beautiful..._**

She stopped at the entrance of the kage's house. **_Maybe I should apologize... I shouldn't have yelled at him, for more reasons than one._**

She was brought back from her thoughts by a familiar voice coming from behind her. "What are you doing?" It was Kankurou.

Akane didn't bother to turn around. She could feel his mocking smirk. "Staring at the door, obviously."

Realizing that she wasn't in a good mood, Kankurou decided not to make her any madder than she already is. "Whatever. I suggest that you get in soon, though. Nights in Suna are colder than those in Konoha." With that, he went past her and inside.

After about half an hour of staring at the door while fighting her thoughts, Akane went inside. She sensed that Gaara was in his room, which meant that the coast was clear. She went into the living room and sat on the couch.

Apologizing for her behavior would be a mature and professional thing to do, and she was fully intending on doing so, as soon as she manages to pass one obstacle – her pride. **_Come on Akane, you're not a kid anymore! Just forget about your stupid pride for a second and apologize! _**Then she frowned a bit. **_Easier said than done! I've never apologized to anyone in my entire life! Ok, maybe once, but that was a long time ago!_**

In the end, she made up her mind and stormed off in direction of Gaara's room. She stood in front of the door for a moment, sighed and knocked. After hearing one "come in" she went inside. Gaara wasn't in his robes anymore, he was wearing simple black pants and a dark blue shirt.

Gaara honestly thought that she was going to ignore him for the rest of her stay, or at least until he gave her a better mission, so he was slightly surprised to see her. However, he kept his reaction to himself, now interested in finding out why she came. "Do you need anything?"

She was trying to avoid his gaze by looking at the floor. Her efforts were futile because their eyes met as soon as he first spoke. She sighed again and spoke. "I want to apologize for my behavior, earlier today. It was inappropriate, childish and incredibly embarrassing for myself and my village. I can only hope that you won't think any less of me or Konoha."

Gaara's eyes widened from pure shock. _This is surprising._ Akane didn't see this, since she was too busy staring at an invisible spot on the floor. "Apology accepted. As for my opinion of you, I can't say that it has gotten worse, since it wasn't very good to begin with."

Akane's eyes widened after hearing his last statement. Gaara half expected her to yell at him again. The other half was simply waiting to see her reaction. He almost lost his grip when he saw her smile. "Well then, I guess that just means that I have three months to make you think better of me, right?" This time, shock was clearly written on Gaara's face. Akane slightly bowed and turned around to leave. "Good night, Kazekage-sama."


	15. Chapter 15

Akane practically ran into her room with a wide green on her face. As soon as she closed the door, she began laughing uncontrollably. Ten minutes later, she was lying on the floor with tears in her eyes. **_The look on his face as priceless! I should definitely do this more often! _**She sat up with her legs folded in front of her and stared at the door. **_Anyway, it's time to get serious! I'm gonna keep my cool no matter what he does!_** She nodded her head approvingly and stood up. **_I should get ready for bed if I'm going to get up early... Or at least before Kankurou. _**With that thought she went into the bathroom to take a shower.

* * *

A week later, Temari was enjoying another peaceful, sunny day in Konoha. Since there weren't many missions for jounin, Tsunade was mostly giving her days off. So far, she's been on only one mission, which lasted for a couple of days. That, of course, left her a lot of time to get used to the village and meet some of it's residents.

She was walking through the streets, looking around. The last thing she saw before she was forced on the ground was a flash of yellow. And just like many other people who had the fortune of meeting the number one, hyperactive, knucklehead ninja of the Hidden Leaf village, she already knew that she hasn't been ambushed, but was simply standing on the pore blond's escape route. "Naruto, get off me!"

"Ah... Sorry, Temari! I didn't see you!" He smiled apologetically at her while helping her up. Then he turned around and saw something that made him scream like a little girl. "See ya later!" Was all he said before he ran past Temari.

"NARUTO! Get back here and take it like a man!" The moment he ran off, Sakura appeared in front of Temari. She slowed down after noticing the older kunoichi. "Hi Temari-san!" Was all she said before she stormed off in Naruto's direction.

Temari stared after her in confusion. "What did Naruto do this time?"

"I'm not sure, but knowing Naruto, it was probably something stupid." Shikamaru was standing next to her. "Aah! When did you get there?"

He just looked at her lazily. "Are you sure you're a jounin? You should really pay more attention to your surroundings."

That, of course, got him a hit on the head. With an over sized, metal fan. "Jerk." Was all Temari said before she walked off.

"Troublesome woman." Shikamaru slowly stood up with one hand holding his head. "Hey! Wait up!"

She turned on her heals to look at him. "What?"

"I'm supposed to take you to Hokage's office. Apparently, we are going on a mission together." He said while walking closer to her.

"Like I'd ever go anywhere with you." Temari said while turning around. They walked together towards the Hokage tower.

"Troublesome woman..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

* * *

At that same time, in Suna, Akane was in the Kazekage's office. The Academy teacher she was replacing had recovered and was now back at his position. Just like Akane had predicted, Gaara couldn't wait for an opportunity to make her lose it again. This time, it wasn't the mission's level, but it's type.

"Your mission is simple but far from easy. You are to lead an escort of Land of the Wind's Feudal Lord and his family on their trip from Suna to their home. Any questions?" Gaara was in his kage robes, sitting at his desk. He held his arms folded on his chest and was looking at Akane expectantly.

"Yes." **_Why me?_** "Who is in my team and when do we leave?"

"Kankurou and Matsuri are going with you and you are leaving in an hour."

"Just the three of us? Will that be enough?"

Gaara smirked. _She is completely serious about this mission. Good._ "You and Kankurou are jounin and Matsuri is chuunin. And since you won't be leaving the country there is no reason for us to send more than three people. Besides, with your abilities, you shouldn't have any problems with this mission."

"Alright."

"Good. You're dismissed."

* * *

A couple of days later, Akane, Kankurou and Matsuri were walking through the desert towards Suna. **_I'm so glad that mission is over. If I ever forgot why I hated being a bodyguard, this definitely reminded me of it. _**Akane had frustration clearly written on her face even though she was trying hard to suppress it – she didn't want to repeat what happened the last time.

"Um... Kankurou-san?" Matsuri was glancing from Akane back to Kankurou worriedly.

"Yeah?"

"Why is Akane-san angry?"

Kankurou chuckled at this. "Don't worry about her, she's not a people person, so missions like this one give her headaches."

"I am perfectly fine with people, Kankurou. I just have hard time being around an annoying, screaming, kicking brats for 24 hours straight."

"That's not very good."

"What do you mean?"

"Are you even planning on being a mother?"

"Of course I am, but what does that have to do with this conversation?"

"Well, if you can't stand kids, then ho-"

"Alright! I get it!"

"Actually, Kankurou-san, that comes naturally for mothers, I mean, everyone loves their own child."

"Maybe you're right Matsuri." Then he smirked and turned to face Akane. "Still, it's not like you have to worry about having kids, when chances of even finding someone to have them with are zero."

"Excuse me?"

"Don't take it the wrong way, you're not bad looking. Your personality is what will chase everyone away." Kankurou realized his mistake in being completely honest the moment Akane stopped dead in her tracks. He expected her to turn around and punch the daylights out of him, but she simply continued walking instead.

The rest of their short trip to Suna was in an uncomfortable silence. Akane refused to talk or even look at anyone, Kankurou felt guilty, but didn't know what to say or do about it, and Matsuri was afraid that she might cause an unwanted negative reaction if she spoke.

As soon as they passed the village's gates, Akane broke the silence. "I'm going to write a report on this mission. You two are free to go." Matsuri said her goodbyes and left in a hurry. Akane began walking towards the kage tower, but was stopped by Kankurou. "Listen, Akane, I'm-"

"Don't. You should never apologize for telling the truth. Anyway, I'm not mad if that's what you're worrying about. I'm just not feeling very well." She began walking again. "I'll see you in the morning."

* * *

Akane barely slept that night. She felt weird. The way she was acting lately was unusual. At lest for her. And it was creeping her out. **_It makes no sense... My normal reaction in cases like that one would be to punch his sorry ass into the next week. It's strange... Instead of being angry, I felt sad and hurt... weird._**

* * *

A week later, Akane was coming back from grocery shopping. _**This is just like back in Konoha. Two completely uninterested guys, who'd rather die from hunger than go shopping for food. One of them, of course, would say that he is too busy to go to the store, and the other one would usually just walk out without saying a word, or he'll say something smart like: "grocery shopping and making food is women's job"**. ** I'd like to see him say that to his wife if he ever gets married! **_She didn't notice that someone was in front of her, until she hit him. Right when she was about to apologize for not paying attention- "Sasuke! What are you doing here?" She dropped her bags and gave her brother a bear hug.

"Akane, can't breathe!"

She quickly pulled away with an apologetic smile on her face, that soon turned into a wide green. And then she hugged him again. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too, but I'm not gonna kill you for it!"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to strangle you." She took the bags again and they started walking towards the kage's house.

"Akane?"

"Hm?"

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Just asking."

After a short silence, Akane spoke again. "You didn't tell me why you're here yet."

"I wanted to see how you're doing, so I asked Tsunade to let me go. Since there weren't any missions for me at the time, she agreed."

"Oh."

* * *

When they reached the house, Kankurou was there, lying on the couch. "Sasuke meet Kankurou, he's one of Temari's younger brothers. Kankurou, this is my brother Sasuke. Now unless one of you is going to cook, I want you out of here. The last thing I need is you two coming into the kitchen every five minutes to ask if lunch is ready."

"Didn't you say you weren't going to cook?"

"I changed my mind."

Kankurou smirked. "Oh really?"

"Yes, really. And what are you smirking about?"

"Oh, nothing." Then he turned to the other Uchiha. "How does sparring before lunch sound to you?"

"With you? Piece of cake."

"You're on!" And with that they ran outside.

* * *

About an hour later, when Kankurou finally admitted defeat, he and Sasuke were walking back to the house. Uchiha was looking around, but not really paying attention to his surroundings.

"Something on you mind Sasuke?"

"Akane is acting weird."

"So you've noticed too? It started a couple of weeks ago."

"Do you know why?"

"It's just a hunch. I'll have to test it before I can be sure."

"Do you mind sharing?"

"Not at all." Then Kankurou smirked. "It's quite simple. Your dear sister is in love with my brother."

"You're joking! Akane? No way! She's nineteen years old and she's never even had a crush. And now you're saying that she's in love with someone."

"That's what I thought at first. Or at least some of it, I don't know her as well as you do... Anyway, that's why I have to test that theory first."

"And how are you planning to do that? I doubt that either one of them is going to cooperate. Besides, what if you're right? If she admits how she feels about him but doesn't get those feelings returned, she'll be heartbroken. She may be a pain sometimes, but she's still my sister and I don't want her to her hurt."

"And that brings us to the other part of my theory."

"There _is_ another part?"

"Of course. You see, my friend, people who don't know my little brother wouldn't see any difference, but I can tell that he's been acting quite weird as well."

"You mean...?"

"Oh yeah. And all they need now, is a push in the right direction."

"So what's the plan?"

"Does that mean you're in?"

"Hey, if you're right and they do get together, she'll eventually move here and be happy, and I'm gonna get rid of her once and for all. It's a win-win situation."

"Alright, here's the plan."


	16. Chapter 16

It was a late afternoon in Suna. Akane and Gaara were coming back from the training grounds after sparring.

"Kankurou and Sasuke offering to make dinner? If I didn't know any better I'd say that someone has kidnapped them and replaced them with lookalikes." Akane chuckled at the thought.

"Maybe they're up to something."

"Maybe you're just being paranoid."

* * *

Half an hour later, inside one of the small, paperwork storage rooms in the kage's house.

Akane and Gaara were sitting on the floor with their backs on the opposite walls so that they were facing each other.

"Akane, I know that this isn't a very good time but, I told you so."

"I told you so? What are you, nine?"

Gaara scowled at this. "No. But I was right, they were up to something."

"Like I care who was right at this point! All I know is that Sasuke used some kind of barrier so we couldn't get out unless they let us. Anyway, you should really fix the light in here... I almost got hit in the head by one of those files the last time."

"You were here before?"

"…"

"Akane?"

"…"

"You got lost and ended up here while you were on your mission to kill me."

"Ah, yes?"

"Is there anything you can do without messing up?"

"I never mess up, I just get sidetracked."

"Sure you do."

Akane sighed. "So... Why do you think they locked us up in here?"

"I have no idea."

"I thought so... Lets just think for a second. The two of us, in a small, dark room, with no way out..." Then a thought hit her and she looked at Gaara wide eyed. He just stared at her, confused. "What?"

Akane hit herself in the forehead and sighed. "You are completely clueless, you know that?"

"What are you talking about?"

Instead of answering, Akane stood up and walked to the door. "If you two are expecting to open this door in about an hour or so, and find us making out or something, I'll have to disappoint you – it's not gonna happen."

Gaara stood up staring at her oddly. "Make out?"

"Yeah... apparently, our brothers thought that it would be fun to play matchmakers." Then she turned to the door again. "I suggest you let us out now, waiting will just make it worse."

* * *

The next morning, Kankurou and Sasuke weren't capable of getting up, so Gaara and Akane had breakfast together.

"Um, Gaara, is everything alright?"

"Everything is fine. Why do you ask?"

"No reason. Does it have anything to do with what happened last night?"

"I just told you that nothing is wrong."

"So?"

"Why do you insist on it?"

"Because you don't look like everything is alright. I know something is bothering you, so just spill it."

"I have to go." Was all Gaara said before getting up and disappearing in a swirl of sand.

Akane stared at the spot he occupied a moment ago before she stood up herself. "Just when we were starting to get along..."

* * *

A whole month has passed since Sasuke's visit, but it felt like ages for Akane. Gaara barely even talked to her and she was just waiting for the day when she'll stop seeing him at all. She kept replaying all the conversations she had with him in her head, hoping to find something that might tell her why he was avoiding her, but so far, she had nothing. Kankurou was away on missions a lot, and if she didn't get a few every now and then, she would probably go insane. Right now, she was on her way to Gaara's office to get a mission. She knocked on the door and went inside.

"Hey Gaara! What's up?" As usual, every time she tried that kind of approach, she ended up hitting an ice cube.

"I don't have time to chat Akane. You have an urgent mission."

"Of course."

"We've received reports of foreign ninja moving close to the border."

"So I'm on border duty?"

"Exactly. You will be in a watch tower on the north for a week, maybe longer."

"Alright."

"You should get ready and leave as soon as possible."

"Sure." With that she turned around and went to the door. She was stopped by Gaara's voice. "Akane."

"Yeah?"

"Be careful."

She turned her head to face him and smiled. "I always am." With that she was gone.

"Yeah, that's what I'm worried about." He sighed turning his attention back to his work trying to get the kunoichi out of his mind.


	17. Chapter 17

It was the week after Akane left that all hell broke loose. Reports were coming from all over the border about surprise attacks of the ninja from the Hidden Rock village. Because of that, Gaara had no choice but to send more and more of Suna ninja to defend the country.

Eventually, the number of attacks began to fall. By the end of the week there was only one place that was still under attack.

* * *

It was late in the afternoon and Gaara was nervously pacing in his office. They were supposed to receive a report from the north watch tower half an hour ago, and he was getting more worried by the minute. When he heard a knock on the door and his brother's voice on the other side, he called him to come in, impatiently waiting for the news.

"Calm down, little bro! I know that your girlfriend is on that tower, but there's no need to bite someone's head off! By someone's, I mean mine."

Gaara glared at him in return. "Do you have it or not?"

Instead of answering, Kankurou handed him a small sealed scroll. When Gaara opened it, Kankurou spoke again. "So what does it say?"

"They managed to fight off the last attack. The enemies who survived pulled back and there haven't been any movements since." Then he stopped reading and looked at the scroll with his eyes wide open.

Kankurou looked at him concerned. "What's wrong?"

Instead of answering, Gaara threw him the scroll and disappeared in a whirl of sand. Kankurou quickly read through the report until he reached the part where it said the status of all the ninja that were on that post. Akane Uchiha – missing.

Kankurou immediately knew what his brother was intending to do, so he went to get his puppets first. He ran into his previous sensei on his way to the gate and explained him what happened. Then he ran to the gate and outside the village, and eventually caught up to Gaara. The red head was wearing his battle outfit and carried his gourd on the back.

"You could've at least waited for me!"

"Longer we wait, less chance there is for us to find her."

"I met Baki before I left. He didn't like the idea of you running out on your own."

"I'll deal with the council when I get back."

"He said that he'll deal with them for you, and that he's going to send backup after us and a message to Konoha. He also said that you better come back alive."

Gaara smirked. "I'll do my best, but if Akane's brothers find out about this before we have a chance to return, I doubt that I'll have a choice between life and death."

_

* * *

_

A few hours later, Konoha. Tsunade's office.

"Will everyone shut up!" When Tsunade received a message from Suna and send Naruto to call Itachi and Sasuke, she didn't expect an additional 17 people to show up.

When everyone stopped talking, she spoke. "I understand that you all want to help, but the reason this even happened were numerous attacks on the Wind country's borders during the last couple of weeks. If I send all of you, the Hidden Rock village might get an impression that we're trying to attack, which will, without a doubt, start another war."

"But, Granny-Tsunade! We have to go!"

"Naruto, I told you not to call me that! Anyway, I can choose only four of you, and less you complain, more time those four will have to find Akane."

"But, Granny-"

"Enough Naruto! The team that will go on this mission will consist of Kakashi, Itachi, Sasuke and Sakura. You will go to the post that Akane was defending before she went missing. You are to meet with the Kazekage and his ninja there and head out to look for her. Any questions?"

"Yeah! What about me Gran-"

"Good! You're all dismissed!"

* * *

The team from Konoha got to their destination in a record time – only a day. When they got inside the tower, they met Kankurou. "You guys are fast! I didn't think that you'd make it here without getting lost."

"We had the instructions with us, so it was easy." Sasuke said while looking around.

Itachi, Kakashi and Sakura walked up to them. "Hey little brother who's your friend?"

"I told you not to call me that! Especially in public!"

Itachi chuckled at Sasuke's reaction while ruffling his hair.

"I'm Kankurou, Temari's brother." Kankurou then turned around to see Gaara coming down the stairs. "And that's Gaara, my younger brother." He finished while pointing at the red head.

Itachi nodded and went on with the introductions. "I'm Itachi, the gray haired jounin is Kakashi, and pinky over there is Sakura."

Kakashi simply nodded, while Sakura started screaming at Itachi for calling her pinky.

Kakashi approached Gaara before talking. "Have you found any leads that might tell us what happened to Akane?"

"No. We've looked everywhere around the border, but it's like she vanished into thin air."

"Alright. Then I'll just summon my dogs and start the search here."

"Do you need to rest or can we head out now?" Gaara asked in monotone voice.

"We can go now, if you're ready." Kakashi said while sending him a questioning look.

"We're ready."

After that Kakashi made some hand signs and summoned his ninja dogs. As soon as the dogs got the scent they went running with the ninja close behind them.

They all had only one thing on their mind – the safety of their friend.


	18. Chapter 18

It's been hours since they began their search and it was getting dark. "Alright, lets make camp here! We're not going to find anything in the dark." Itachi told them before he jumped down from the tree and landed in the small clearing. The rest of them fallowed close behind.

"Where could she be? I feel like we've been going in circles..." Kankurou said while sitting down.

"We were, every now and then." Kakashi stated while gathering some branches for the fire.

"What?"

"Apparently, Akane was all over this forest. Either she got lost or she was forced to move around a lot."

"That doesn't matter. We have to find her tomorrow, before the track becomes too old to follow." Sasuke said before taking the branches from Kakashi and putting them on the ground. After that Itachi made a few hand signs and lighted the fire with his fireball.

"Come on guys, cheer up! This is Akane we're talking about, I'm sure she's just fine!" Sakura was trying to lighten the mood, but they were all too preoccupied with their thoughts to hear her. She frowned at their lack of response and was startled when she heard Gaara's voice.

"I hope you're right." Was the only thing he said before silence took over again. Sakura looked at him worriedly. _He probably feels guilty for what happened... I hope I'm right too._ She thought while sitting down next to Sasuke.

* * *

The next morning they ate quickly and were on the move again in no time. Unfortunately, they still weren't very lucky. They didn't encounter anyone. Not Akane, nor the enemies. "Is this place deserted or something?" Sasuke and Kankurou said in unison.

Kakashi and Itachi were in front of them, while Gaara and Sakura were behind. A moment later, Pakkun appeared in front of them. "Kakashi, we have a problem."

"What kind of problem?"

"The track ends here, there's nothing more to follow, unless you want to run in circles."

Kakashi stood there for a while, thinking about their options, then he spoke to the dog in front of him. "Alright Pakkun, you did enough. You can go."

"Understood. Call us if you need us, and, sorry about this." With that, Pakkun disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"That's just great! How are we supposed to find her now?" Sasuke was clearly frustrated and didn't bother to hide it.

"We can't. Besides, for all we know, she could already be dead."

"Don't say that Kakashi." Sakura warned while glancing at the two Uchihas who were throwing death glares at the said man.

"We should take a brake and think this through. Although it pains me to admit, Kakashi is right. If she really is dead, then we're just waisting our time." To everyone's surprise, the one who spoke was Gaara.

The bigger surprise was Sasuke, who ran to the red head and pushed him against the tree trunk. "You don't have the right to tell us when we should give up on my sister! You don't even care! The only reason you're here is because you're afraid that Konoha is going to blame you for the disappearance of one of it's shinobi!"

Itachi then came and stood between Sasuke and Gaara. "That's enough Sasuke, calm down. You'll just end up doing something stupid that we'll all regret later."

Sasuke looked at his older brother with sad eyes before throwing a death glare at Gaara and walking away to sit next to Sakura.

* * *

An hour later, they were still sitting on the clearing. They all knew that just sitting there won't help, but they simply didn't know what else to do. Going back and giving up on Akane would be a logical choice, but nobody wanted to be the one to bring it up.

"Why the long faces guys? Did someone die?"

They all stood up like the ground beneath them was on fire and looked in the direction the voice came from. "Akane!" She was sitting on a branch of one of the trees.

Sasuke was the first one to recover from shock and as soon as he reached his sister, he send her flying to the ground with a kick. "You idiot! We thought you were dead! Where were you?"

Akane sat up on the ground while rubbing her lower back. "I went after those ninja from Iwa a few days ago, but when I decided to return, I kinda got lost. But then I sensed you guys and went in your direction! So here I am!" She finished with a grin.

"Akane."

"Yes Gaara?"

"Do that again and I'll find you just for the thrill of killing you myself."

She stood up and smirked at him. "Like you could."

"You think I can't kill you?"

"No... I know you can't kill me, and considering the situation we're all in right now, I'd say that you can't find me either."

Their further argument was interrupted by Kakashi. "Come on you two, we need to get going."

* * *

It took them one whole day to get back to Suna.

"Finally! Bath, dinner and bed!" Both girls yelled and ran towards the kage's house before anyone could stop them.

"Women." The others said in unison.

"Come on guys, I'll lead the way." Kankurou went ahead with Itachi and Kakashi behind him.

Sasuke and Gaara were walking slowly behind them in silence. As soon as the other three were far away, Sasuke spoke. "Gaara, I'm sorry." The red head looked at him surprised, but the raven continued without giving him a chance to say anything. "I didn't mean what I said, I was frustrated and I took it out on you."

"Don't worry about it. I understand."

"Thanks."

* * *

Since Sakura and Akane were the first ones to clean up and change their clothes, they also made dinner while they were waiting for the others. The girls were wearing sleeveless shirts and skirts, only in different colors. Akane's shirt was red while the skirt was black and she had a black belt around her waist with the Uchiha's symbol on it, and Sakura's shirt was pink while her skirt was dark brown. Men weren't very original either. They all wore black pants and plain dark shirts on. The exceptions would be Kakashi, who still had his mask on, and Sasuke and Itachi, whose shirts had the Uchiha clan's symbol on the back.

After they all finally got to the table to eat, the good mood was spoiled by Kakashi who said that they had to hurry with the dinner and go to bed, since they'll all be leaving the next day. Including Akane.

"But why?"

"Because it's time for you to go home."

"But I don't want to go! Why can't I stay here instead?" As soon as those words left her mouth, Akane realized what she said. The look the others were giving her only caused the poor girl to blush a deep shade of red and focus her gaze on her hands that were lying on her lap.

Sakura giggled at Akane's behavior. "She's got a Hinata syndrome!"

"A what?" Although the people from Konoha understood perfectly, Kankurou and Gaara had trouble following. So Sakura began explaining. "A friend of ours, Hinata, who's been in love with Naruto, Sasuke's and mine teammate, for as long as we can remember, used to always blush like that whenever he talked to her. She also used to pass out every time they stood too close to each other or when he touched her. Anyway he was clueless for years, but they eventually got together. She still blushes a little every now and then, but not as much as she's used to."

"Wait. What does that have to do with Akane?" Kankurou was glancing from one girl to the other in confusion.

Akane stood from her chair and ran upstairs before anyone could answer.

Then all eyes turned to the unsuspecting Gaara, who stared back in return. "What?"

* * *

Akane ran straight into her room and onto her bed. She couldn't take it anymore, and all she wanted was for those dumb feelings to go away. She didn't bother to stop her tears from falling, she didn't care if anyone saw her cry.** _Pull yourself together! Life isn't fair, so just get over it! _**She was trying her best to calm down, but it wasn't making much progress.

Then she heard a knock on the door. She jumped from the bed and went to open the door so she could give a piece of her mind to anyone who dared to bother her. She frowned when she saw her visitor. "What do you want?" She asked while stepping aside to let him in.

"We need to talk." Gaara answered and sat on the edge of her bed.

"You weren't very talkative before." Akane stated while closing the door.

"People change."

"Sometimes. But never without a good reason."

"What makes you think I don't have a good reason?"

Akane just glared at him without answering.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Then why were you crying?"

"I wasn't."

He suddenly stood up and pinned her to the wall. "Tell me."

Akane looked straight into his eyes for a moment before she crushed his lips with her own. She put her arms around his neck, pulling him closer, while his arms were tightly wrapped around her waist. He licked her lower lip and she opened her mouth allowing his tongue to enter. They battled with their tongues for a while, and then Gaara's lips left hers when he decided to give some of his attention to her neck. His hands grabbed her tights and picked her up while her legs wrapped around his waist. He was slowly unzipping her shirt while kissing her neck and collarbone. Akane realized just how far he went when she felt his lips on her breast. "Gaara, we should stop now."

"Why?" He said and looked at her pleadingly.

Akane put her legs down and zipped up her shirt. "If we go any further, we might not be able to stop. And since I'll be going back to Konoha tomorrow, it will only hurt more."

"Why would it hurt?"

Akane looked at him with tears in her eyes."Because I finally realized that I love you and now I might never see you again."

Gaara hugged her and kissed her forehead. "I love you too. And don't worry, we'll see each other again."

She put her head on his chest and sighed. "But when? It could be months, years..."

"I can wait."

* * *

The next morning Akane and the rest of Konoha's ninja said their goodbyes and were on their way. Temari will also be coming back to Suna in three days.

Gaara and Akane promised to each other that they will wait until the day comes when they will have a chance to be together and stay together for the rest of their time.

Although the odds were against them, their willingness to at least try to make it work gave them both hope that they might actually do it. It was a fool's hope, but as long as it was there, it would give them strength to keep holding on.

**THE END**

**I hope you liked the story. I'm not very satisfied with the way it turned out, but considering that I lost interest in it some time ago, I'm surprised that I actually finished it. Anyway, if you have any opinion of it, I would appreciate it if you'd review and tell me about it. **


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